Part of the Pack
by zyxw
Summary: The war's over. Everyone except Hermione & Teddy are dead & she has to start over for both of them. She finds out things about her parentage & is invited to live & teach on the Quileute reservation by Sirius's cousin Billy.
1. Chapter 1

"I can't thank you enough for going to the airport for me," Billy Black told a pair of very tall, very muscular men in their early twenties. "It's been hard since Jake ran off."

"It's no problem at all, Billy," the man replied. "It'll be good to have a teacher in the reserve's elementary school again. You're sure she's not going to see something and freak out?"

"Positive. This girl's seen more than you can possibly imagine. Nothing's going to phase her."

Hgjb hgjb hgjb hgjb hgjb

Hermione jolted up in the first class British Airways seat. "Ma'am," a flight attendant told her removed the friendly hand that she'd place on her shoulder to wake her, "we're beginning our final descent into Seattle. If you could please return your seat to its upright position." Hermione nodded and sat up straight. "Your son too?"

"Yes, of course," she answered as she reached over the seat across from her and adjusted the seat of the curly brunette four year old. He didn't even stir until half an hour later when the plane touched down and people began to stand and collect their bags from the overhead bins.

With the assistance of a very kind stranger Hermione managed to transport all of her carry-on luggage and the still groggy boy through immigration and to the baggage claim where she deposited her things on a very convenient cart while the boy rested, still in her arms. "Thank you," she said by way of a goodbye greeting to the kind man before she turned to head through customs.

"You take care," the man answered. "You and your son."

"Brother actually," she replied as she continued through the line.

Hermione strained to find the man she was looking for. Billy had already told her he couldn't pick her up personally and would be sending a younger man from the reservation. She didn't, however, know what this man would look like or where he would be waiting. Finally she saw a sign that read "Lupin" and made her way toward the man holding it, pushing her cart with only one hand.

"Hermione?" the man asked as she approached him, struggling to keep her brother in place in her arms. She nodded. "I'm Paul," he told her already taking her cart from her hands and starting to push it toward the doors.

"Thank you," she told him as she followed, walking much more quickly now that she could hold her most precious bundle with both hands. He only smiled and waved over her shoulder. "I expected Billy's son, Jacob, to come when he told me he wouldn't be able to make the trip himself," she added as they reached the car and she situated the boy in the booster seat that Paul had already put in the backseat.

"Jake's been gone a while," Paul explained as he continued unloading her bags into the trunk.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be," he replied, the agitation barely masked in his voice. "He was selfish. He abandoned his father, his friends, and his tribe."

Hermione didn't know how to react to this so she remained quiet, tending to the invisible dirt on her brother's face before taking her seat in the front next to Paul.

"What's his name?" Paul finally asked, after five long minutes of silence.

"Teddy," she replied with a smile, her eyes shining as she looked at the four year old boy in the seat behind them. "Ted Remus Lupin."

"What happened to your parents?"

"They died in the war," she answered simply. It wasn't a complete lie. Tonks, Teddy's mother, along with Remus, Teddy and Hermione's father, had died in the war. Jane, Hermione's mother, and Henry, the man she'd always believed to be her father, were safe, sound, and happy again in Australia where they lived a quiet life with no memory of their daughter.

Paul looked at her with wide eyes as they stopped for a light. Billy had of course told him that Hermione was a witch and her brother Teddy a werewolf. He'd told him about their father Remus dying recently and that in his younger years, he'd been close friends with Billy's cousin, Sirius. He'd apparently left out the war that was waged in Europe's wizarding world for the better part of fifty years now.

"It's alright," she assured him as she looked back at the still sleeping Teddy. "I'm just sad for him that he'll never know them."

It had been three and a half years since their death and the war had only really ended two year ago when the aurors finally rounded up the remaining death eaters. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, her two best friends of over a decade, were both killed in the process. Most of her Hogwarts friends, including all of the Weasleys had died in battles leading up to that point and when the war was over and the dust finally settled, Hermione was alone with Teddy and Seamus Finnegan.

Though a loyal and dear friend, Seamus didn't quite understand the situation with Hermione and Teddy and when the boy started showing symptoms of their father's ailment he had to ask her to leave his farm in the Irish countryside. His family was largely muggle and he feared for their safety. That was when Hermione returned to her inheritance of number twelve Grimmauld Place—Harry had split his possession evenly between her and Ron in his will and when Ron died as well Hermione was left with everything—and a year later, while cleaning out the office, discovered the many letters Sirius had kept from his cousin, Billy Black.

Billy had been so happy to hear from her, even when she gave him the news of Sirius's death at the hand of their other cousin Bellatrix. He explained that when he hadn't heard from him in years, he knew something terrible must've happened. Even when he was locked in prison Sirius had been a loyal pen-pal. When she explained her predicament, Billy was more than happy to help offering her a house on the reservation and a position teaching at the elementary school there. He was sure, he told her, that the pack could help Teddy in his transitions and two weeks later she was speeding through two lane highways in the passenger seat of an extended cab F-150 with its red paint chipping on the hood.

"You should try to sleep," Paul told her, finally breaking the silence. "There's a bonfire tonight for my birthday. The whole pack will be there and some of the tribe elders, Billy included."

"Is that an invitation?" she asked the attractive, raven-haired man sitting next to her.

"Yes, ma'am, it is," he replied with a smile and a wink as he continued driving.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: FORGOT THIS IN THE FIRST CHAPTER. I OWN NOTHING. I AM NO ONE OF ANY SIGNIFICANCE OR IMPORTANCE.

ALSO, I LOVE REVIEWS & THOSE WHO POST THEM.

"He's so cute," a woman cooed as Paul pulled into the driveway of the small house in the back of the Black property and Teddy tumbled from the truck.

"Teddy!" Hermione yelled as she jumped from the truck and scooped the boy from the ground. "You have to be more careful," she told him with tears in her eyes.

"No cry, 'Mione," the little boy told his concerned sister. "Me okay. Won't do it again."

"Promise?" she asked as he reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Pinky," he replied, holding his small finger out for her.

By now many tall, muscular men had made their way through the trees and converged on the truck and Billy Black was rolling his way across the lawn.

"He's your brother?" the woman asked as she made her way to Hermione from the porch. Hermione nodded and turned back to the truck. "Let the guys get that. They're strong. They can handle it. I'm Emily."

"Owie," Teddy declared pointing at the woman's scared face.

"Teddy," Hermione reprimanded as the woman blushed.

"It's alright really," Emily assured. "I've heard worse."

"Daddy do that?" Teddy asked, turning in his sister's arms.

"No, love," Hermione answered. "Emily's never met our dad."

"But Daddy scratched you like that!"

Emily looked at the other woman with a mixture of horror and confusion. Sam had phased accidentally and scratched her. He still hadn't forgiven himself and it had been years. She couldn't imagine his reaction if he'd hurt their child in such a way. She couldn't, however, see any such scars on the pretty and petite British woman's exposed skin and was left wondering where they were.

Hermione seemed to catch onto her train of thought as she placed Teddy on the ground and turned her back on Emily, lifting her shirt until her bra was peeking out slightly. Emily ran her fingers over the pale scars on Hermione's back before she pulled her shirt down again. "It was an accident of course," she explained. "I was out when I shouldn't have been and he forgot to take his potion in the confusion of looking for me and my friends. I was standing too close when he turned and he swiped out at me."

"But they're…how did you…"

"I brewed a special salve. I can make some for you once I locate all the ingredients. That is if you like?"

Emily's eyes widened and teared up slightly. "Please," was her only response.

Paul was only half paying attention as Sam, his alpha, gave instructions. The entire pack had shown up to move the new teacher into her house and didn't understand how she'd arrived with only four suitcases and two small carry-ons to furnish an entire house. They'd supplied her with a stove and fridge but other than that she was on her own. They'd offered to find spare furniture from houses on the res until she could find the things she needed but she assured them that it wasn't necessary. The bags sure were heavy though, even for these men's abnormally large muscles.

Paul was distracted by the pretty Brit that had slept next to him during the three hour drive from the airport. She was adorable when she slept and beautiful when she…well when she did just about anything else that she did. He couldn't believe his luck. Out of the pack, Paul was the only one who had yet to imprint and he was starting to lose hope that it would ever happen. Until today that was. When he saw the pretty foreigner with her stoic personality it was over for him. All of a sudden there were no other girls—and he had to remember to call that townie slut, Jessica he thought her name was, from Forks and tell her it was over. He was just killing time with her anyway. She was never the type to bear his seed or know the tribe's secrets. Hermione though, she was everything he'd always wanted in a woman and never knew it. And, thank the fates for their wisdom in making her his.

"Yo, Paul!" his good friend Quil called, breaking him from his daze. "You coming in or what? She said she'd show us how she packed everything into six bags! And lunch is almost ready!"

Paul abandoned his post slumped against the bed of the trunk and jogged into the house to join his pack, his pretty Brit, and what would be their newest member, Teddy Lupin, a real werewolf. He slowed his pace as Billy Black beat him to the doorway and slowly wheeled himself in.

"Hermione?" Billy asked as the younger men cleared a path for him into the center of the room where she stood with six open suitcases.

"Billy?"

He nodded.

"It's so nice to finally meet you!" she greeted, bending to hug him.

Teddy simply climbed into his lap. "Hi!" the boy greeted, causing Billy to erupt in a joyful laugh.

"How was your trip?" he asked.

"I sleeped the whole way!"

"It was fine. A little bumpy in some places but mostly smooth. Paul was wonderful to pick us up," Hermione answered, smiling at Paul as he entered the room before returning to a bag that she was searching through. "Ah ha!" she yelled, jumping to her feet again and pointing a long slender stick at a very small wooden square that promptly began to grow. "I found this," she told Billy as she presented him with a wooden framed picture, "with Sirius's things and thought you might want to have it."

The framed picture depicted a young Billy, Sirius, Remus, and James. None of them looked to be more than sixteen. They were hanging from a tall tree each by one arm. A cliff overlooking the water was in the background. They were all laughing and waving at the camera. "That was the summer before their last year of school," Billy explained. "Sirius wanted to visit me so the Potters came with him and brought Remus. Thank you."

The room was quiet for a long while until Seth, the youngest member of the pack, broke the silence. "How'd you do that?" he asked with wide eyes and a big smile. The rest of the room, except for Teddy and Billy looked at her expectantly.

"Magic," she answered with a laugh as she began expanding more things from a second bag.

When the room was nearly full Sam asked, "Well, what are we waiting for? Collin, Brady, you two put Teddy's things in his room. Embry and Quil, you can do the living room. Paul and Seth you take Hermione's things and Jared and I will take the kitchen." The men all split up. "Hermione if you want to direct them on where to put things feel free. Emily's got lunch cooking already so you don't have to worry about that."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you."

"Table fine in the middle of the room?" he asked as she began walking away.

"Perfect," she laughed as he placed the one piece of kitchen furniture and took a seat.

Half an hour later all of the furniture was in its place and many of the men had gathered in the kitchen. Seth was in the yard playing with Teddy, Hermione was unpacking Teddy's clothes and toys, and Paul had assigned himself the task of unpacking the bathroom items.

"Lunch!" Sam suddenly called and the three males who weren't already in the kitchen came running.

Hermione laughed as she walked into the room and saw the makeshift chairs that the wolf pack was using as they balanced bowls of hot beef stew and plates of cornbread on their laps. With a wave of her wand the food was floating off of their laps and she was met with many disgruntled faces. Faces that suddenly turned to confusion as their crates, boxes and one small step stool turned into chairs causing them to lift from their low seats and allowing them to lean back. Finally they turned to relief as TV trays appeared in front of them and their food returned.

"Awesome," Brady whispered, loud enough for the room to hear.

"Dude," Collin agreed causing Hermione to laugh even harder as she took a seat at the table between Emily and Paul, with Teddy climbing into her lap.

a/n: Thank you for all the reviews! I've never had such a response to a fic before. My inbox had over 30 alerts from the site when I woke up this morning. I was going to wait a while then have Jacob show up and make this a HG/JB pairing but the more I think about it the more I like a Paul/Hermione pairing. I feel like I can do more with his character than I could with Jacob. Sorry for those of you who wanted to see something different but I hope you'll keep reading and reviewing anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

"Thank you so much for all your help, Paul," Hermione told him as she placed her last trinket, a framed picture of herself, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna at Bill and Fleur's wedding, on her dresser. "You really were a life safer today."

"Oh, it's no problem," Paul shrugged it off. "Do you need a ride to the bonfire?"

Hermione's eyes grew wide. "Oh my days!" she exclaimed. "Paul, it's your birthday and you've spent the whole day helping me move."

He waved her off. "Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal."

"But it's your birthday," she stressed.

"And we're celebrating tonight at the bonfire."

"But-"

"Look," he cut her off taking both of her hands and feeling an undeniable jolt of electricity run between them, "I'm not really a fan of birthdays. Nothing good ever happens for me on them. I'm only acknowledging it at all because it's a big deal to Emily to celebrate these things. I'd much rather spend the day helping you unpack than getting my free slice of day-old pie at the Fork's Diner."

"You're sure?"

He laughed showing his bright white teeth and deep dimples. "Positive! I'll pick you up at seven. We're making dinner there. It's not an official meeting so Billy's staying home and said you could leave Teddy with him if you want."

Hermione nodded as she escorted him to the door, which he had to duck to get through. Werewolves sure look better on this side of the pond she thought as she watched his retreating form return to his truck in cutoff jeans and a wife beater that clung deliciously to every ripple in his beautifully sculpted back.

Looking at the clock she saw that it was already five thirty in the evening. She still had to call Billy, shower, and feed Teddy.

Pack pack pack

Paul arrived promptly at seven to see Hermione swiftly crossing the small expanse of lawn between her and Billy's houses. He took the opportunity to enjoy the sight of the petite witch in tight boot cut jeans and a red hoodie with a strange lion emblem on the front of it. It looked to be old and well-worn but it hugged the curves of her full chest and small waist perfectly. Her hair was down in loose curls, some of which fell over her shoulder. And she wore a large smile when she saw him leaning against the door of his truck.

"Thanks for the ride," she greeted as she approached.

"Anytime," he replied with a smile as he opened her door for her. "It's not far but for a newcomer on a fall night it can be a little treacherous. Wouldn't want you walking it alone until you get your bearings."

"Well I definitely appreciate it," she answered as he climbed into the driver's side.

Along the way he pointed out the few building on the main road of the small town inside the reservation. As they reached the end he pointed to a side street. "The school's down there. I can take you by on our way back if you like."

"That would be lovely," she answered, smiling at him and causing his heart to skip slightly. She was perfect and she was his! Or at least he hoped she would be once she heard all of the details.

"I thought your last name was Lupin?" Seth asked when they'd arrived at the beach bonfire.

"It's Granger actually," Hermione corrected. "Why do you ask?"

A few of the pack members were looking at her now as Paul stood protectively close. "Um, your sweatshirt," Seth told her. "It says 'Potter' on the back. And what's Gryffindor? And quidditch?"

Hermione smiled at the memory's that came back to her with the mention of those three words. "Gryffindor was the name of my house at Hogwarts, my wizarding school. Quidditch is a sport similar to soccer and basketball but played on brooms. And Harry Potter was the youngest and best quidditch player at Hogwarts in a century, as well as my best mate."

"And you're wearing his shirt because?" Paul asked, trying not to sound too jealous.

"Harry died a couple years ago. I'm not sure how much Billy has told you but he was kind of a hero in the wizarding world. He was definitely a hero to me. It just makes me feel safe to have some of his things with me. Almost like he's still with me," she finished with a blush and a tear rolling down her cheek which she hastily wiped away. "Sorry," she apologized to Paul who was staring at her now with wide eyes.

"Don't be," he replied, shaking his head to clear it. "Do you mind if I ask-"

"So why the name change?" Collin interrupted.

"I'm sorry?"

"You brother's last name is Lupin. From what Billy told us, so was your father's. Why is your last name Granger?"

"I didn't know that Remus was my father until I was almost sixteen," she answered. "Granger is my daddy's last name, the man that raised me." There was more to the story, that was for sure but she didn't feel quite comfortable enough around this group to give them all the details yet. She'd only come clean to Harry and Ron during their hunt for the horcruxes after Remus had tried to join them and abandon a pregnant Tonks. Even then it was only out of necessity because they'd overheard her yelling at him about abandoning another child and ruining another family.

"Dinner," Emily called, seeing Hermione's obvious discomfort.

"Sorry about them," Paul apologized. "They're a lot younger than they look and sometimes their brains don't filter the things that come out of their mouths. You alright?" he asked placed a guiding hand on the small of her back as he led the way to the hot dogs and hamburgers.

"I'm fine," she replied with a small smile allowing him to lead her. "They're alright too. I'm used to questions."

Sam kept a close eye on Paul's interactions with Hermione throughout the night as well as the way that he reacted to the younger members of the pack when they made her uncomfortable with too many questions. Toward the end of the night, he overheard Paul reprimanding Seth, Brady, and Collin for asking too many questions.

"But don't you want to know?" Seth was asking.

"Of course I want to know," Paul replied. "I want to know everything there is to know about her but I can wait for her to tell me."

"Oh my god," Brady said with wide eyes. "You-"

Hermione could obviously overhear everything that they were saying just as easily as Sam was so before the younger wolves revealed too much he decided to intervene. "Paul!" he called effectively interrupting the conversation. "Over here."

Paul jogged toward his alpha. "What's up, Sam?" he asked, turning to look over his shoulder and make sure that the others were leaving Hermione alone. She was talking with Emily now. Good.

"Hermione?" Sam asked.

"What about her?"

"You know what about her? Did you imprint?" Sam whispered. A large smile spread across Paul's face. "You did! It's about time, man," Sam congratulated, genuinely happy for his longtime friend. He and Emily were married and expecting their first child. Jared was engaged and the three of them had been practically inseparable since childhood. They both knew how much their friend wanted to settle down with the right woman and how worried he'd been that he would never imprint or that he'd imprint after making a commitment to another as Sam had done with their ex-pack member, Leah.

The heartache had been too much for her and she finally left the pack, the tribe, and her family three years ago, just after Jacob had imprinted on the half-vamp and run off with her family to play house dog. Leah was another close to their age that the three best friends had grown up with. Paul had attempted to comfort her when Sam called off their engagement but nothing had worked. Sam knew that Paul would rather die than put another person through the pain that he'd seen Leah go through. Now he wouldn't have to nor would he have to be alone.

"Have you told what's-her-name yet?" Jared asked, joining the conversation.

"Jessica?" Paul asked. "No, but I'm going to go into town tomorrow and end it."

"How do you think she'll take it?"

"She'll be fine," Paul assured. "She thinks I don't know about the three other guys she's seeing on the side. Hell, one of them is her best friend's fiancé. I feel bad for Angela really. She's too good for that."

Pack pack pack

"Well?" Paul asked, "What'd you think?" They had returned to Hermione's home and he was carrying Teddy across the lawn for her.

"It was fun," Hermione told him as she opened the front door to allow him inside. "I didn't get to do many things like that when I was younger. It's nice to do them now."

"Seth and the boys didn't bother you too much?"

"No, they were fine. Like I said I'm used to the questions. It's just…" she trailed off as Paul put Teddy in his bed and closed the door behind him.

"Just what?" he asked as he joined her in the living room taking a seat next to her on the couch.

"All the questions about Remus," she finally answered in a slow, controlled voice.

"Do you mind if I ask? I mean you don't have to tell me. I know it's none of my business but if you want to talk about it…"

"He and my mother had an affair. My parents' had been married a few years at the time and my dad was busy starting his new dental practice and mum went out one night and met him at a pub. He was just eighteen at the time. They kept it going for a year before she got pregnant and he just bailed on her. He was probably afraid because of his condition but he left. She was able to pass me off as my dad's simply because I took after her almost completely. It wasn't until I was eleven and got my Hogwarts letter that he started to suspect something. After that they fought all the time and when Remus became a professor during my third year, they filed for divorce. I still didn't understand why for another couple years of course. I overheard Sirius arguing with Remus about it, telling him that I had a right to know the truth about who my real father was and why my parents divorced, why my dad all of a sudden wanted to take me out of school and keep me away from Harry and Ron. Remus never knew that I knew until Tonks, his wife, was pregnant with Teddy. He tried to abandon them too. Take up the mission Harry, Ron and I were being sent on. I lost it and started yelling at him until he went back to her. Sirius was the only person who knew that I knew before that. When he died I didn't have anyone to talk to."

Paul sat stunned as the beautiful woman cried in front of him. "I'm sorry," she told him hiding her face in her hands as she turned away from him. "I don't know why I told you all of that."

He quickly scooted closer to her on the couch and pulled her against his chest. "Don't be sorry," he whispered, rubbing her back. "I'm glad you told me. You shouldn't have to keep that to yourself. My mom had an affair too," he confessed. "When I was thirteen. My dad found out and bailed. She married the other guy and had a bunch of kids with him. I moved out when I was sixteen and never looked back. She didn't really care much anyway. Before I moved out I practically lived with Sam's family. I just don't understand why you told me your parents were dead."

"Remus and Tonks are," she confessed, "and to keep my mum and dad safe during the war I erased their memories of me. They got back together right away and they just seemed so happy when I looked for them after the war ended. I couldn't return their memories and have my dad go through all that pain again. If I hadn't been born they would've stayed together and lived a happy life. Their lives would've been so much better without me. They might as well be dead or I guess I might as well be dead to them."

"Oh, the ways parents manage to screw us up, huh?" Paul laughed as he began to stroke her hair. Hermione laughed, too, against his chest before letting out a soft yawn. "You should get to bed. Can I take you two out to dinner tomorrow?"

"I'd like that," she confessed, pushing away from his strong body and standing from the couch.

"Great. I'll pick you up at five," he replied as he made his way to the door. "Oh and Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"I can't imagine anyone's life being worse for having you in it. You've already made mine better." He placed a soft kiss atop her head as she stood blushing.

a/n: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For all the amazing feedback. I can't stop smiling today!


	4. Chapter 4

a/n: I know that I changed Paul's history a lot. I changed the age because I wanted him to be older than Hermione. The rest of his story I wasn't sure about so I made one up for him. I'm doing more research on the character now. Hope you continue to enjoy the fic.

"Hey baby," a short busty girl with curly dark brown hair practically threw herself at Paul as he stood on her front porch. "I didn't hear from you last night," she pouted as she proceeded to wrap herself around him and attempted to kiss his neck as he lightly pushed her away. "I have a very special birthday present for you!"

"No thanks," Paul replied as he finally managed to untangle himself from her clutches. "I actually need to talk to you."

"What's up baby?"

"Stop calling me that," Paul practically growled as he scooted away from her on the porch swing. "I'm not your baby. I'm not your boyfriend. I never was."

"But-" she started to protest but he interrupted.

"We had fun. The whole time you were having fun with three other guys and to be completely honest I had my own fun with a few girls too but all that's over now."

"What? Why? I mean, if we both know we don't want anything serious then why can't we keep having sex and going about our lives like we have been?"

"That's just the thing," Paul told her standing up and making his way toward the steps. "I do want something serious but I don't want it with you. I've met someone and we have the potential for something real so this," he gestured between the two of them, "is done."

"You don't have to be so cruel to her," Jessica's roommate Angela told him as she made her was up the walk to the front porch.

Paul turned to the tall, slender girl with soft brown eyes. "You're a really good person, Angela," he told her. "You deserve better friends. And a better boyfriend."

Both girls stared at him with wide eyes as he walked away, straight into the woods behind their house, and disappeared from sight.

Paul winced as he saw Hermione walking toward the gas station where he lived and worked. Sam's family owned the place and when he moved away from his mother's house and back to the reservation eight years ago they offered him the small apartment and salary for running the place for them. Eager to get away from his mother and worried about burdening the Uhleys by staying with them any longer, he readily agreed and never once regretted that decision until now.

Hermione had come from a privileged background. Her parents were both dentists and from the clothes she wore and the things she owned it was obvious that they'd done well by her. He knew that he didn't fit into that world with his torn clothes and hole-in-the-wall apartment above a gas station. What if she saw this and rejected him? According to the rules of imprinting, he was bound to her always but she was not bound to him. And rejection could have devastating effects.

"So this is where you live?" she asked as she approached the counter with Teddy in tow.

"Live? How'd you know that? And I thought I was picking you up in thirty minutes?" he was flustered as he crossed the floor and turned the sign to closed, locking the door behind him. "Are you canceling on me?"

"Of course not," she laughed as he led the way up the steep staircase to his studio apartment.

"It's a mess," he warned opening the door.

Looking around she laughed again. "I've seen worse."

"So what's up? Why'd you come by?"

"I needed to talk to you about Teddy. I went to Sam first but Emily said that he and Jared were gone for the day and that you would be able to help."

"Sure what's up?"

"I just wanted to tell you some things before the full moon next week. I didn't know where you planned on going for dinner so I thought it best if we discussed it beforehand." He nodded his understanding, signaling for her to continue. "I can go with you the first time but I'll need someone to…well, to protect me."

"You want to go with us?" She nodded. "I'm afraid you can't do that. No non-wolf can go."

"You don't understand, Paul. I am a wolf." His jaw dropped and she laughed at the expression on his handsome face. "I'm an animagus. It means that I can change into my animal form, the wolf, at will. It's even more reliable than how you phase when you get angry."

"Mione pretty woof!" Teddy told him looking at his sister. "Toys?" he asked.

"Sorry little cub," Paul replied ruffling Teddy's hair. "No toys here." Teddy smiled and laughed and his actions when something strange happened. The boy's skin started to darken to a deep copper color and his chestnut brown curls turned jet black and straight. "What the?"

"Teddy," Hermione reprimanded. "Remember what we agreed. You can only use those powers at home. It scares people."

"Paul not scared," Teddy replied confidently. "He brave!"

"Good looking out, cub," Paul told him with a wink before turning back to Hermione. "If you go and he bites you won't you…change?" The thought was too much for him to bare. His angel, his imprint, in danger.

She shook her head, "No, in my animagus form her can't harm me. That's what I was worried about. Whoever is with him has to stay in their wolf form all night. Do you have the self-control to do it?"

"We have all night patrols regularly," he answered. "Nothing to worry about."

A relieved smile crossed her face. "Oh, good. Thank you."

He fought the urge to reach out and take her into his arms. His entire body longed for her. But something told him that he had to move slow with her or he'd scare her off. He finally settled for a small smile, "No problem. I need to take a quick shower before dinner. Are you two ready to go? Do you want to wait?"

"Should I change?" she asked looking down at the knee length navy blue dress with cream colored flowers and matching cardigan and ballet flats. It had a v-neck and empire waist and the sight of her standing there so clean and tidy in his filthy apartment made him wonder how their things would look mingled together in a larger house somewhere on a small piece of land on the reservation. Maybe with a tire swing for Teddy and a few of their own children running around.

"No," he finally answered. "You look beautiful!"

a/n: Still loving the reviews & of course those that post them! Keep it up & I'll write more ASAP.


	5. Chapter 5

"So this is her?"

Paul groaned at the familiar voice that had just approached from behind. "Jessica, not now. Please."

"No, Paul. I want to see what's so great about her. She's not even pretty," the woman sneered.

Paul looked to Hermione who mumbled something and waved her hand in Teddy's direction. The boy, who still wore copper skin and straight black hair, looked up for a moment at Jessica then Paul and finally Hermione who nodded at him and he returned to coloring the kid's menu the waitress had brought him.

"I disagree, Jess," Paul replied, obviously aggravated but trying to control his anger. "I think she's beautiful and I also think that this isn't the time or place to do this."

Hermione had stayed quiet throughout the exchange and was now coloring with Teddy.

"Oh my god, Paul! You have a kid!" Jessica screeched.

Hermione's head shot up at this and she looked from Teddy to Paul with wide eyes.

"He's just a kid from the res," Paul tried to explain, to cover for Hermione who obviously couldn't pass for the boy's sister in his current state.

"Yeah, whatever," Jessica sneered again before turning to Hermione. "So you think getting knocked up will keep him around? Paul's just a player, a man slut. He's boned every girl in the area. He'll fake it for your kid for a while but eventually he'll get tired of you and bail just like he did to me."

"Jessica," Paul tried to interrupt.

"Only dumped me this morning, did you know?" she persisted. "Obviously he already had plans for you tonight."

"Can we leave?" Hermione asked, turning to Paul who was growing angrier by the second. "I don't think Teddy need's to hear this."

"Yeah let's go," Paul agreed, practically seething as he tossed some money onto the table and stood. Walking around the table he pulled Hermione's chair out for her. Picking up Teddy, Hermione followed Paul out of the small Port Angeles restaurant.

His knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel on the drive back to the reservation. He didn't talk for the first twenty minutes until he heard Hermione mumble something and wave her hand in an intricate motion at Teddy.

"Mione why?" Teddy asked her as his skin slowly started to pale and hair began to curl.

"You shouldn't hear those things, love," Hermione answered simply.

"Hungry!" Teddy told her.

"I'll stop somewhere on the way," Paul offered. "Hermione, I'm really sorry about that."

"I'll just make him something at home," was her only reply.

"Hermione, please, let me explain."

"Not now. I don't want him to hear."

The rest of the drive was quiet. Hermione jumped out of the truck as soon as it stopped and pulled Teddy along with her into the house. Paul tried to follow but she stopped him at the door.

"I should feed him and get him to bed," she told him, blocking his entrance.

"Please, just let me explain," Paul practically begged.

"Not now."

"When?"

"Mione! Hungry!" Teddy called from inside the house.

"I have to go," she told him before shutting the door.

Paul slowly made his way back to his truck and drove home. He felt sick to his stomach and was still seething from Jessica's actions. It only pissed him off more when he got his phone lit up with a next text message… "Come over tonight~Jess."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" He yelled, throwing his phone onto the ground before phasing—ripping his one pair of good jeans and the black button down he usually reserved for church—and sprinting into the woods with a howl.

Two miles away Sam and Jared were just returning home from a long day of patrols. "That can't be good," Sam groaned. "Jared?"

"Got it," his long-time friend replied before changing back into his wolf form.

"Slut! Stupid slut!" Paul was ranting.

"What the hell?" Brady asked.

"Just ignore him," Jared told the younger pack member.

"Stupid fucking slut!" Paul continued to rant.

"I know you're not talking about Hermione?" Jared asked his friend.

"Hermione," Paul calmed slightly. "So beautiful. So sweet. She hates me man!"

"What do you mean she hates you?" Brady asked.

"Meet me at my place, Jared. I need to put on some clothes."

Jared changed back into his human form, dressing before returning to the front of the house where Sam waited. "I'm meeting him at his place to talk. You in?"

Sam looked back at his house and saw that all of the lights were out. Emily was asleep. "Yeah, sure. I'll drive."

"She hates me!" Paul repeated as he opened the door for his friends.

"What'd you do?" Sam sighed as he entered and threw himself on the couch.

"Picked this up outside, by the way," Jared told him tossing his cell phone at him. The battery had come out and the screen was cracked but other than that it was fine.

"Thanks, man. It wasn't me. It was Jessica," Paul explained.

"Who?" Jared asked.

"What's-her-name," Sam told him. "Try to keep up."

"Oh, I lose track of all of Paul's sluts. I'm so sorry."

"What happened?"

"I took Hermione and Teddy to a restaurant in Port Angeles and she was there. She came up and said all this stuff about Hermione being ugly and that I'm a slut that would get bored and dump her. Accused her of getting knocked up to try to keep me around."

"Woah, wait! Knocked up?" Sam asked.

"Teddy does this thing where he can change his appearance. She called him a metamorphmagus and said he usually looks like her so that people don't ask questions but she lets him do whatever he wants at home. When she came by earlier though he changed his skin and hair to look like me. He couldn't change it back and Jessica thought he was my kid."

"Then what?" Jared asked.

"What do you mean then what?"

"What happened after Jessica yelled at you?"

"Not even a comment on the changing appearance thing?"

"Dude, we're shapeshifters that take on the form of giant wolves and a few months ago an elder came to us and told us that he had a cousin that was a wizard and this cousin's friend was a real werewolf with two kids that needed a place to stay. One's a witch, the other's a wizard werewolf. And I just finished at twelve hour patrol. I'm too tired to be surprised anymore. Then what?"

"She asked to leave," Paul explained, slumping forward in his chair. "I tried to explain on the way home but she didn't want to talk about it in front of Teddy. When we got there she couldn't get away from me fast enough and I asked to talk about it and she just said she had to go and closed the door on me. Then I get back here and Jessica's asking me to come over tonight! SLUT! What do I do?"

"Keep trying to talk to her," Sam told him with an air of finality in his voice.

"Simple as that, is it?"

"Yeah, man," Jared agreed. "It is. You've never been in a real relationship before. When a girl's gotten pissed at you you've just ran off to the next one. It can't be like that with Hermione. Go by there tomorrow and try to talk to her again."

"And if she won't talk to me?"

"Try again!"

a/n: Not so much love today. Where are you guys? Review please!


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione was glad for some time alone in the house. She'd hardly slept the night before, flashbacks of her friend's deaths mixed in with the usual nightmares of losing Teddy and Seamus had plagued her dreams. She had run out of dreamless sleep drought two nights before and was obviously in need of it. When Emily had called this morning and asked if she could take Teddy to the beach with her niece Hermione jumped at the opportunity.

"Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble," Teddy sang in a high pitched voice as he danced around the living room watching his sister prepare her cauldron in the fireplace.

"Professor Flitwick is never babysitting you again," she groaned as someone knocked on the door.

"Flitty fun!" Teddy laughed before singing again, louder this time. "Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and-PAUL!" he yelled as Hermione pulled the door open.

Sure enough, there stood Paul in his cutoff jeans and wife beater, holding a bouquet of wild flowers. "Can we please talk?" he asked as he her giggles behind him.

"Hi, Hermione," Emily greeted with a smile. "This is my niece Claire. Is Teddy ready?"

"Yes, would you like to come in?" Hermione offered.

Emily shook her head. "Sam's waiting for us. Next time."

"I'll just go grab him then," Hermione told her new friend before disappearing into the house.

"You're welcome," Emily whispered to Paul in the split second before Hermione returned with Teddy.

"Bye Mione! Bye Paul!" Teddy called over his shoulder as he ran across the front yard to Sam's waiting car.

"Bye," Emily laughed as she followed.

Paul and Hermione stared at each other for a long moment before he spoke again. "Please, Hermione, I need to fix this."

She nodded and opened the door to a cool living room despite the blazing fire. "Fire burn and cauldron bubble," he said. "I get it."

"You heard that?"

"I was standing outside a while trying to figure out what to say to get you to talk to me," he admitted with a slight blush.

"Paul, I'm a virgin," Hermione blurted with a deep red blush, a blush that would've made Ginny Weasley proud. "I don't know what you want with me but after last night I feel you should know that."

Paul jumped up from the couch where he'd been sitting and made his way toward the woman in the middle of the room. "Is that what had you so upset?" he asked, putting a hand on each of her shoulders. She nodded. "Hermione, I already figured that much."

"I want to stay a virgin," she told him pulling away and stirring the oddly smelling mixture she was brewing. "I plan on saving myself for marriage."

"Then we'll wait," he told her earning him a raised eyebrow. "Hermione, I'll wait as long as you need. We'll go as slow as you want. I don't want you to think I'm using you. Nothing could be further from the truth. I really care about you."

"Did you say that to Jessica? And the others? You used them, right?"

Paul exhaled a deep breathe. "I don't claim to be a good person. In fact I know I'm not. I have the worst temper of anyone in the pack, possibly the whole reservation. I've slept with a lot of women and no I never intended on a relationship with any of them. And what Jessica said about me ending things with her just yesterday is true but I did it because I met you. I never told any of those women anything like that because it would've been a lie. I want to be with you, Hermione. It's not a lie or a line. Please just give me another chance."

"You've known me two days," she told him. "Why do you care so much?"

"It's…it's just this feeling I get," Paul explained taking a step closer and cupping her face in his hand. "So what do you say? Dinner tonight?"

Hermione smiled, "How about lunch instead? Teddy's going to be gone all day."

"Lunch sounds great!"

"What is this?" Paul asked as he peered over the top of the cauldron. It was well after lunch and though Hermione thought she wanted a quiet day alone she found herself inviting Paul to stay a while.

"Dreamless sleep drought," she replied, standing close to him as she stirred the brew.

"Why wouldn't you want to dream?" he asked looking down at her. She seemed so small when he stood this close.

"I don't mind dreams," she told him. "It's the nightmares that I can't handle."

"What are the nightmares about?" She remained silent. "Too soon?"

"A little."

He didn't know what made him do it and he swore to himself that he'd go slow with her but she was standing so close and she smelled so good and the steam from the cauldron made her hair frizz in the most adorable way and she was looking up at him with those big honey brown eyes of hers and he just couldn't help it. He gingerly held her face with one hand while the other slid around her small waist. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers. They were soft and welcoming and a jolt of electricity seemed to course through his very being when he made even the smallest intimate contact with her. All too soon he convinced himself to pull away. He'd promised her slow and he wasn't sure if this was what she wanted. When he looked down at her again her mouth was still open in a small "o" and her eyes were just beginning to slide open again. "Wednesday?" he asked when he could finally form a full thought again…or maybe not so full.

"Huh?" He was, however, doing better than she was in the language department.

He cleared his throat and stepped away, hoping that by putting a little distance between them he would allow himself to start thinking straight again. "Can I take you out again on Wednesday night? Or is that too soon?"

"Wednesday would be perfect," she replied, seeming to break out of her own daze also.

"Great," he replied, backing away from her. "I'll pick you up at six."

She only nodded as he left.

a/n: I just couldn't make her be mad at him for long. It doesn't seem a rational thing for her to be upset about something that happened before they met and Hermione is nothing if not rational. So for all of you who hoped she wouldn't be mad long, there you go. Review and I'll try to post more by the end of the day.


	7. Chapter 7

"She's a virgin?" Collin asked the next day on patrols. "I'm not even a virgin!"

"STAY OUT OF MY HEAD, COLLIN!" Paul ordered.

"Quit thinking about things you don't want me to here, Paul," Collin countered. "And that date you're planning for Wednesday sounds lame."

"I'm warning you, Collin!"

"You're not Sam!"

"Sam's not here and I'm his beta," Paul reminded with a growl.

"Point taken," Collin relented. "I'll just go over there."

"Good idea!"

"That's a good thing though, right?" Seth asked. "It just means she's scared. She's not mad at you."

"God, how did I get stuck with you two tonight?"

"We're having dinner at your house?" Hermione asked as Paul pulled his truck into his place behind the gas station.

"To avoid any more unwelcomed visitors," he explained as he opened the door for her.

"It smells lovely," she commented as she followed him up the stairs to his small studio apartment that was now immaculately clean. "Thank you for letting Teddy come. He gets ill before the full moon."

"No problem. I got a few coloring books for him after you came by the other day," he replied as he place the pale, sweaty child onto his bed and covered him up with a lite blanket.

"That's so sweet. I don't think he'll be able to use any of them tonight, though."

Teddy slept through the entire meal, which went a lot more smoothly than the last dinner that they shared. They were now sitting on his couch drinking wine and talking. "Are you worried about tomorrow?" he asked.

She shook her head, "No. I've been with him when he's transformed before. My wolf is just too small now. He's already bigger than me."

"Can't you give him that potion that your father used?"

"Not yet," she explained sadly. "He can't take it until he's eleven, just in time for Hogwarts. It's supposed to be very painful for him without it, plus the loss of control. I don't think he's even able to infect humans since he's only a half blood but it's still something to worry about."

"You saw your father transform too, right? That's how you got the scar?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"Emily told Sam and I sort of overheard it."

She nodded and dropped her voice. "That was from Teddy about a year ago when I was in my animagus form. He scratched me. He noticed it about a month after it happened and I told him that Remus did it by accident when I was in school. He doesn't remember what happens when he changes so I wanted to protect him. It's why we came here."

Paul was silent for a very long time. He was torn between anger and understanding. Someone had hurt his imprint and that angered him beyond belief but that someone was her very young brother, only three at the time, and he had no control over his body or his actions.

"Can I…can I see it?" he asked suddenly.

"The scar?"

He shook his head quickly, afraid she would think he was trying to get her to undress. "No," he explained with a smile. "Your wolf."

"You'll see tomorrow, won't you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I'm patrolling tomorrow night. Half the pack is going to be with you though—Sam, Jared, Seth, and Collin. Please."

"I suppose," she relented standing from the couch and walking to the center of the room where she began to shrink and morph. In under a second she was a small wolf with dark silver fur. While Paul was at least four times his size in his wolf form, Hermione was only one fourth of hers. His jaw hung open when he saw her. The exact color of his own wolf. She only stayed that way for a few seconds before turning back and seating herself on the couch again, slightly closer this time. "Teddy's already more than twice my size," she explained.

"You look like me," was all he could say.

"Pardon?"

"Dark silver fur. I have it too."

"Oh," she replied, blushing, as Teddy began to stir.

"Mione!" the boy called in his sleep. "Mione!"

Hermione jumped from her seat and raced to his side. "Can you please bring me a cool damp cloth?" she requested as she seated herself next to Teddy on the bed. Paul did as he was asked and soon joined her, sitting behind her on his mattress.

"Mione, I sick," Teddy cried as he awoke.

"I know, love," she replied, cradling the small boy in her arms. "We'll get you home and get a potion in you."

Paul was up and looking for his keys before he even finished the sentence. Finding them on the counter he returned to the bed where he took Teddy from Hermione's arms. "Can you get the door?" he asked as he gazed worried at the sick werewolf in his own arms.

Paul drove Hermione home as quickly as he could safely get her there as she tending to a crying Teddy in the back seat. Once there he again picked the child up in his own arms and carried him inside. Hermione hurried ahead to open doors and turn on lights finally meeting him in Teddy's room where she'd already pulled down the blankets and cast cooling charms so strong she was shivering. Paul left the room after laying Teddy in his bed and went to wait in the living room as he saw Hermione crawl in bed with the boy and start telling him a story as she held him close to her.

Thirty minutes later she emerged still shivering, her clothes damp from the boys sweat. "You're still here?" she asked, slightly surprised as she walked into the room.

"I wanted to make sure everything was alright. Come sit with me," he added as she continued to shiver. She obeyed sitting close but not touching. With a sigh he closed the distance between them wrapping both arms around her. "Damn your cold," he commented as she slowly relaxed into him.

"His fever gets so bad when it's close to the full moon. He gets as hot as you but his body can't handle like yours does. I have to make the room unbearably cold."

"What was that story you were telling him?"

"A modified version of a Harry Potter adventure," Hermione told him with a smile.

"Your friend Harry?"

She nodded. "I told you Harry was a hero. I tell him some of the less graphic, fairy tale versions of the story where Harry and his two best friends are knights who go on wonderful adventures together. In that one Sir Ronald was bitten by a very large dog and his leg was broken but the dog wasn't a dog at all. He was a man who also happened to be Sir Harry's Godfather.

"You see, Sir Harry was orphaned as a baby and grew up with his mother's evil sister and her rotten family where he was neglected and made to do all of the household chores until he was eleven and taken away from his evil family to live in a beautiful Scottish castle where he met his two best friends and found out about his parents' deaths. He was told that his Godfather had betrayed them to the evil warlord who wanted to kill baby Harry and for it he was sent to prison. Twelve years later he escaped and everyone in the castle was worried that he was coming after Sir Harry but they'd all been wrong. Sir Ronald had a pet rat but the rat was like the dog, a human in disguise, and a very bad human at that.

"Sir Harry's Godfather and the rat were the only ones to know the truth: that the rat, who had also been a friend of Sir Harry's parents, had actually been the man to betray the family to the evil warlord. Sir Harry's Godfather had loved his friends and his Godson too much to ever do them harm and when he found out what the rat had done he went searching for him and that was how he was locked away. But, he never stopped looking for the rat and one day he saw a picture of Sir Ronald's family where Sir Ronald was holding his pet. He learned that Sir Ronald had a good friend named Sir Harry and that they roomed together in the Scottish castle where Sir Harry lived. He changed from his human form into his dog form and he escaped the prison in search of the rat and when he found him, Sir Ronald not knowing the truth had tried to protect his pet so he was hurt.

"Then another man, a trusted mentor of the three knights revealed the truth to them—who the rat was, how he hid, and most importantly the Godfather's innocence. The three nights decided that they would all return to the castle and expose the rat to another trusted resident there but many things went wrong in their quest: the mentor was momentarily blinded by the moon, the rat escaped, and the Godfather was captured. Sir Harry, Sir Ronald, and Lady Hermione managed to convince their trusted friend in the castle of the Godfather's innocence but he was afraid they wouldn't be able to convince the authorities so he sent Sir Harry and Lady Hermione on another quest, a quest to rescue the Godfather so he wouldn't have his soul sucked."

"Did they rescue him?" Paul asked, completely captivated by the story.

"They did," Hermione nodded.

"And that really happened?"

"The Godfather was Sirius, Billy's cousin. The trusted mentor momentarily blinded by the moon was Remus. Everyone in the wizarding world knows the stories," she explained. "Harry was kept away from our world until he turned eleven and didn't know anything of his own past even though every other child in our world did. He spent his first year trying to catch up, figure out why he was so famous and what really happened to his parents. I don't want that for Teddy."

"What do you mean?"

"Harry's not the only famous one anymore. Ron and I developed quite a bit of fame ourselves through all of the adventures we shared with Harry. Remus, Tonks, Sirius, all of Ron's family, and so many others are recognized now for their heroics during the war. Teddy will be recognized for his relationship to each of them. People will ask questions and make comments. They already do. We went to wizarding London before we came here and a small girl, probably only eight years old, asked for my autograph. Her mother told me that she was a muggle born as well and the whole family had to hide during the war but they listened to Potter Watch every day for updates about just me. Ron's brothers and their best friend hosted the radio show and when the news was too horrible they lightened the mood with a story about Harry, Ron and me over the years. Teddy was confused by it. That's when I started telling him the Sir Harry stories. He loves them, can't sleep through the night without them."

"Can you tell me some?"

"I can let you read them yourself," she offered. "The real, uncensored versions of each story." Standing she made her way into her own bedroom, returning moments later with a think leather-bond book. "This is my journal from first year if you want. I wrote everything down. You might want to start with Halloween though. That's when it gets interesting. There's a troll."

Paul tucked the book under his arm as he too stood. "I'd like that," he told her, leaning down and kissing her lightly on the mouth. "Good night."

a/n: I think this is the longest chapter so far. You know what to do now. Hit that lovely review button and make my day!


	8. Chapter 8

"_You look like me," Paul told her as they sat together on his couch, watching Teddy sleep in his California king size bed that took up much of the space in his small apartment._

"_Pardon?" she asked as she joined him on the couch._

_Putting his arm around her he continued, "Dark silver fur. I have it too."_

"_I don't understand, Sirius," sixteen year old Hermione was speaking into the fireplace of the Gryffindor common room. "Your hair is black and so is your fur. It's the same with Harry and Ron's is red. I have brown hair and dark silver fur. I thought my animagus form would have brown hair like my own. And a wolf?"_

"_I suspect that the wolf is because of your parentage," Sirius explain._

"_Great," Hermione groaned. "I wait five years to become an animagus and it takes a form that will constantly remind me of the father that doesn't want me."_

"_Mione, Moony has always wanted you. He was afraid of hurting you," Sirius soothed before something hit him. "Wait, how did you know that? The two of us are the only ones!"_

"_I overheard you talking. Sirius," she cried into the fireplace. "Is he the reason my parents divorced? It happened right after he came to Hogwarts when I was writing home about our amazing new defense teacher."_

"_I can't answer that for you, 'Mione," Sirius soothed. "All I know is that their divorce was not your fault and that all three of your parents love you very much. I have to go," he finished with more urgency. _

"_Miss Granger, what are you still doing awake?" the irritating voice of Professor Umbridge asked from behind her._

_It was Christmas holiday now and she'd chosen to go to Grimmauld Place. It was actually chosen for her when Mr. Weasley was attacked within the Ministry of Magic but either way she was there now and Sirius had asked to speak to her in the library. He told her that he had some interesting news._

"_Is that Krum boy you've been crying over since you broke up on Halloween an animagus?" Sirius asked as he entered the room._

"_He is," Hermione confirmed, closing the book she'd been reading and placing it on the table in between them._

"_Werewolf mating rituals?" Sirius asked, reading the cover. "Worried about your future?" She only shrugged. "What was he?"_

"_A jet black falcon," she answered._

"_Well rest easy my dear. Though losing your first love is always hard I can assure you that Viktor Krum is not the man meant for you."_

_This strange subject surprised her, "I'm sorry?"_

"_I did a little research on your shiny silver coat. It seems, dear Hermione, that you have a soul mate."_

_She laughed at the thought. Hermione had once believed her parents to be soul mates, then they divorce and a year and a half later she learned that he mother had cheated on her father. She'd been bitter and skeptical since. Viktor had thawed her cool exterior for a short while but when he'd dumped her for one of his quidditch groupies less than two months prior it came back in full force._

"_Such a cynic," Sirius shook his head at her. "I assure you Mione, you have a soul mate. He will most likely be an animagus or a shape-shifter that takes the form of a wolf and he will have a coat of the same color." He pulled a book from one of the many shelves as he spoke, opening it to the chapter where he'd found his information. Hermione was not one to argue with the written word, unless of course that word was written in the Daily Prophet. "When you meet him, you'll feel an instant attraction to him. You won't be able to keep secrets from him. Basically if he asks you something you'll answer with the full and honest truth. And you won't stay mad at his long. You'll be more worried about being with him than being angry with him. Also, you won't turn to a werewolf if that's what you're looking for. Only male children transform and their now able to change others. I looked that up too."_

Hermione sat up in a strange bed but a familiar room. It was the day after the full moon and she had seen Paul that night. Teddy seemed intent on exploring his new surroundings in his werewolf form and the two halves of the pack—one looking after Teddy, the other on patrol—had crossed paths. Standing tall and proud on a cliff by the ocean was a hug dark silver wolf with his fur shining in the moonlight. Paul, was he last thought before experiencing intense pain in her side that ripped through her entire body causing her to lose concentration and change back into her human form. The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was Paul running to her, naked, and scooping her up.

Since she obviously hadn't slept at home she hadn't taken her drought and had the most intense and revealing dream of her life. Paul is a shape-shifter wolf with dark silver fur. She was unable to stay mad at him or keep things from him and from the second she saw him in the Seattle airport she felt an instant attraction to him. Paul is her soul mate. She groaned and fell back onto the bed.

"Are you alright?" Paul asked jumping from the couch where he'd been lying watching her.

Did he feel it too? She wondered. "Fine. What happened? Where's Teddy?" she asked sitting back up when he joined her on the couch. "Have you been up all night?"

"Teddy bit you in the abdomen. I brought you back here and Sam brought Teddy to his house this morning." He ignored her last question as he saw her lifting her shirt and wincing in pain at the teeth marks in her side. "You should lie back down," he told her. It's early still. Sleep."

"Lie with me?" she asked, not completely sure where the request was coming from. "You look like you could use some sleep as well."

He nodded and laid down on the bed, opening her arms to her. As soon as his arm had enveloped her the pain in her abdomen started to disappear. They both fell asleep almost instantly in each other's arms.

Sam couldn't help the smile that formed on his face when his best friend's rusted red pickup pulled up in front of his house and Paul stepped out with Hermione. They both wore large smiles and her small hand was tucked protectively inside his large one.

"Mione!" Teddy called from the porch. He'd been asking for her all morning and no matter how Sam and Emily tried they couldn't appease the small boy who obviously depended on his older sister. Hermione dropped Paul's hand and ran to the house where she instantly scooped Teddy into her arms and kissed his forehead. "Mione, I yucky."

"Yes, love, you do seem to have a slight fever still. We'll get you home and cooled off soon." The boy nodded before resting his head on her shoulder. "Thank you so much for taking care of him Sam!"

"No problem. It's good practice. Emily just told me we're having a boy so I have many, many years of this to look forward to."

"Is Emily here?"

"No, ran to the store. What's up?"

"I have this for her," Hermione told him reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small bottle of some sort of cream.

"Mione home," Teddy whined in her arms.

"Alright, love. We're going. Say goodbye to Sam."

"Bye bye," Teddy yawned without lifting his head.

a/n: Review! Also to the person who writes the same review for every chapter something along the lines of "I LOVE THIS STORY! UPDATE SOON!" I don't consider that a review. It's similar to a demand actually. I update at least once a day. Twice already today and I'm working on the next chapter which will probably be up tonight. I'm sorry if this isn't fast enough for up but you're just going to have to deal with it. I can only write as fast as my fingers will move and update as fast as my imagination will allow me. If you have something to say about my story along the lines of a compliment or a suggestion for improvement by all means please do. If you just want to order more then please continue reading but please stop 'reviewing.'


	9. Chapter 9

Paul closed the journal and lay in bed staring at the ceiling. His pillow still smelled like her hair, strawberries & cinnamon. It was just that morning that they had laid here together and though he'd only left her a few hours ago with plans to see her the following day, he already missed her. He couldn't wait for the day when he'd never have to leave her again but for now he'd settle for seeing her in the days, reading her journals in the evenings and dreaming about her at night.

He just finished journal number one in two days, a record for him, but it was an interesting read as well. She'd been locked in a restroom with a troll and watched a dragon being born, battled a three headed dog and played a life-sized game of chess. He wondered how thick the next year would be as he rolled over in bed thinking about the Sir Harry story that she'd told Teddy tonight as they tucked him in. He wanted to know who this Viktor Krum guy was that's for sure.

Suddenly he had an uneasy feeling that caused him to leave his bed and pull on his clothes.

Hermione tossed and turned in the bed. Paul had made a point earlier when he'd told her that she was slightly too dependent on the sleep drought so she tried to sleep without it tonight. It had been a mistake of course. The nightmares came back immediately.

_She was arguing with Harry and Ron in the foyer of Grimmauld Place. "It's not a big deal," she was telling them. "I can floo to Seamus's house and drop Teddy off then we'll all go together."_

"_You're not going Hermione!" Harry barked at her before stomping out the door._

"_We made a pact when we started this," she reminded them. "We stick together!"_

"_Things have changed," Ron reasoned. "Teddy's here now Mione, he's your brother and that changes everything."_

"_But-"_

"_I've got nothing left to lose," Ron persisted. "But if Ginny or any of my siblings were still alive and depending on me I'd break the pact for them and they'd do it for me too. You're not even the one breaking the pact here. We are."_

"_But Ron I promised him."_

"_Is that really a promise you want to keep, Hermione?"_

"_It doesn't mean you should have to."_

"_It's a suicide mission and we all know it. You still have something to live for," with that he left and she was alone inside the huge house until Professor Flitwick arrived five days later with the news that Harry and Ron were both found dead. _

_She screamed when she heard. Seamus had been called and he arrived promptly with his mother who took Hermione and Teddy home with her while he packed some of her things._

"Paul!" Teddy cried as he pulled the door open. "Mione screaming and won't wake up."

Paul had heard the screams for the yard and had tried to open the door when Teddy met him there. Running past the young boy Paul entered Hermione's room. Falling to his knee next her bed, he placed a hand on her to shake her awake. She quieted instantly and a small smile formed on her still sleeping face. He took his hand away and she began to toss again. He put his hand back and shook her slightly. "Hermione, you need to wake up now."

Her eyes shot open and he breathing was labored. "Paul, what are you doing here?"

"I had a bad feeling," he explained, "so I drove over. Teddy let me in. He said you were screaming and you wouldn't wake up."

"Mione?" Teddy called from the doorway with tears in his eyes.

"It's okay, Little Cub," Paul soothed, scooping the boy into his arms. "She's awake now." He settled into bed with her, Teddy between them. "Was it a nightmare?"

"Yes."

"Bad?"

"Very."

"Do you want me to stay tonight?"

"Please."

"Damn, that's weird."

"Brady, how many times do I have to tell you: When it's about Hermione, stay out of my head!" Paul ordered.

"I'm just saying, man, that's some trippy stuff. Trolls, dragons, three-headed dogs, a dude with two faces! It would've been damn cool to go to that school!"

Paul groaned and tried to focus his thoughts on something, anything, besides Hermione, but like so many of his pack mates he was finding it hard to think about anyone other than his imprintee. He wanted to know what her nightmare was about last night and why she seemed to calm down just by his touch. She slept the rest of the night without issue and seemed refreshed when she awoke that morning.

"That's weird too. Hey, maybe it's some weird wolfy thing of hers."

"Not you too, Seth?"

"No, think about it. We're shape shifters and we imprint on out perfect partner. She's a-what'd you call it?"

"Animagus," Paul answered, trying to sound annoyed but he was actually very interested in what Seth was saying.

"Right, she's an animagus and the daughter of a werewolf. Maybe she has her own sort of imprinting that she goes through. Maybe she needs you just as much as you need her?"

"That's…interesting actually."

"So what's in the new journal?"

"I haven't started it yet. She just gave it to me a few hours ago. I gotta figure out a way to keep you guys out of my head when it comes to her."

"Maybe it's just a matter of figuring out how to keep her out of your head when you're a wolf," Seth suggested. "Sometimes I think if Sam had figured it out, my sister would still be around."

"How is Leah?" Paul asked. "I've tried calling but she changed her number."

"Yeah, I know. I have it but she doesn't want the rest of the pack to get it. She just…she doesn't want to deal with this anymore. Sometimes I think I let her down you know? Like I should've gone with her or maybe just been a better brother."

"You did all you could, man," Paul comforted. "Leah needed to get away from Sam. It doesn't mean she doesn't love you. It just means she had to find a place of her own."

"New watch is coming in," Brady interrupted the two way conversation to inform his pack that they could change back to human form now.

"She's visiting for Thanksgiving," Seth whispered when they were back in human form and an appropriate distance from the wolves. "Staying with mom and Charlie at his place. I'm going over there. You should visit. At least for a day."

"I'll try to do that. Do you think you can train me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You manage to go without thinking about Leah during patrols and keep her secrets. Can you train to not think about Hermione? At least not as much. I doubt she wants the whole pack to know her nightmares and what's in her journals."

"Yeah, I can try."

a/n: Third chapter in one day. I'm on a roll and some good stuff will be happening soon. Promise!


	10. Chapter 10

"Why don't you just move in already?" Billy asked Paul one morning when he was leaving to open the store. At first Paul thought that the tribe elder might be angry that he was over so often but then the older man smiled. "You're here almost every night anyway and Lord knows your apartment's not big enough for the three of you. Her father never would've approved but…"

"We're not…doing that," Paul explained. Billy quirked an eyebrow at him so he continued. "She has nightmares about that war she was in and when I sleep over she doesn't have them. She was taking some sort of potion but she had to take it every night to avoid them and this just works better."

The older man nodded. It had been a month since Paul had shown up in the middle of the night to ease his imprintee's nightmares and as Billy had pointed out, he was there almost every night. He was afraid to breech the subject of moving in together, though, knowing her feelings about marriage. Besides that when they did eventually marry and move in together he wanted it to be on his own piece of land, land that the tribe had given him to build a home on. He hadn't built yet. He hadn't a reason to until recently.

"Come on, dude," Brady begged. "It's been a month! I know you've read more of her journal by now!"

"And yet, I still have no plans of telling you anything," Paul replied, getting aggravated. It was a the weekend before Thanksgiving and the pack decided to get together for a bonfire since many of them wouldn't be able to spend the actual day together. Paul was in line getting food for himself, Hermione and Teddy while she sat in front of the fire with Emily and a few other imprintees keeping warm.

"Mione," Teddy asked later that night when everyone was gathered by the fire, "next story? I tired."

"Um…" Hermione tried to stall but now all eyes were on her. Sam and Emily had heard about the Sir Harry stories from Teddy the last time he'd stayed with them after a transformation.

"What story?" Brady and Collin asked at the same time. "We wanna hear a story!"

"Please, Mione," Teddy begged. "I tired."

"Where did we leave off?" she finally asked the boy.

"Sir Harry go with Dumbadoor," Teddy prompted.

"Oh, yes," Hermione replied, all eyes on her now but hers were only on Teddy. "When the Headmaster told Sir Harry that he be allowed to go on a special mission with him, Harry asked for only one thing—time to see his friends Sir Ronald and Lady Hermione and his girlfriend Princess Ginerva. The Headmaster agreed, knowing that what he asked of Sir Harry was dangerous. But Sir Harry was not worried about saying goodbye. Sir Harry feared that the castle would be attacked while they were away and while Dumbledore had given Sir Harry a special quest, Sir Harry had a special quest for his friends.

" 'We're going tonight,' Sir Harry announced when he'd gathered Sir Ronald and Lady Hermione. He was too afraid to see Princess Ginerva for he might change his mind about what he was going to say next. He pulled a small vile filled with a golden liquid from his pocket and handed it to Lady Hermione. 'Get Sir Neville, Lady Luna, and Princess Ginerva. All five of you are to take a drink. It should give you a few hours of good luck. I have a bad feeling about tonight.'

" 'But Sir Harry,' Sir Ronald attempted to soothe, 'if it were dangerous for him to be away, surely Dumbledore would not leave his students to be harmed.'

" 'Not intentionally,' Sir Harry agreed. 'Please do it. I need to know that you are safe.' When his two friends nodded he insisted that they make a pact. The same pact they'd been making for nearly six years now. The pact that was never broken. Then he was off.

"Lady Hermione gathered the three that Sir Harry had requested. They met in a hidden alcove behind a tapestry near the Great Hall of the castle and there the all drank of the special potion that Sir Harry had given them. 'The Order will be here tonight as well,' Lady Hermione warned her friends. 'If they see us they'll send us to our common rooms at once so stay in the shadows. We can't help them if we're sent away. Remember your training and most importantly, stay safe.'

"With that the five friends split up. Sir Ronald patrolled in the dungeons, Princess Ginny patrolled the entrance hall, Lady Luna took the third floor, Lady Hermione took the fifth, and Sir Neville was assigned to the seventh floor and towers.

"The night was for the most part quiet but around midnight there came a strange disturbance. The professors were just changing their patrol shifts with the Order members when a scream was heard from the grounds. Pulling out the special map that earlier knights had left for Sir Harry and his friends, Lady Hermione whispered the secret incantation and tapped the old parchment with the tip of her wand. 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.' The map revealed itself and the sight was terrifying. 'Sirs and Ladies,' Lady Hermione called into the special mirrors that they each held. 'It's time. They're here.' The Death Eaters had arrived.

" 'Seventh floor corridor,' Sir Neville confirmed and the mirrors all went blank. The four friends race to Sir Neville's aid much to the dismay of the many adults in the corridors. That didn't stop them however. Sir Harry had given his friends a mission and they refused to let him down. They simply grabbed anyone they saw who may be able to help and continued running.

"When they were nearly there however they heard some yelling 'NO!' They all knew the voice. It was Sir Harry and he was in trouble. Lady Hermione and Sir Ronald attempted to push on but soon a hoard of black cloaked masked figures had converged on them and they were all split up. Lady Hermione was forced down the stairs in her duel, all the way to the entrance hall where she stumbled over a body. 'Stupify,' she yelled, freezing her opponent. Looking down she wanted to scream. It was Sir Billius, Sir Ronald's oldest brother. The battle was quickly coming her way so directing her wand at her opponent again Lady Hermione bound his arms and legs and levitated him to the nearest broom closet, which she locked, trapping him.

"Unable to bear the idea of her friend being trampled Lady Hermione took the few remaining moments she had before the battle reached her to drag him to an alcove where he would be safe. When she bent over him she felt his breathe on her cheek so she rennervated him making him promise to stay hidden and stay quiet. The battle was on her now and she left him alone to fight. When she returned to the fight, however, there wasn't one. The Death Eaters were retreating while the professors, the Order, the knights shot spells at them. Many other students had been awakened by the commotion and come to join them but they were being detained on the staircases by the professors.

"Then out of nowhere, Sir Harry jumped through the crowd and chased after the Death Eaters. 'Fight!' he was yelling at a man that they had all trusted. 'Come back and fight you coward!' The Order tried to catch him, to pull him back but he was too quick for them and in their distraction Sir Ronald and Lady Hermione managed to slip through and follow their friend. It was too late though, the man that they trusted, Professor Severus Snape had escaped with his friends into the Dark Forrest.

"Pulling their friend to his feet from his place, crying on the ground, Sir Ronald and Lady Hermione escorted Sir Harry back to the castle. That was where they saw the crowd. It seemed every student, professor and guest in Hogwarts that night had crowded around the foot of the astronomy tower. The Dark Mark shown down on them from above

"Sir Ronald pushed his way to the front of the crowd. They all knew what the mark meant."

"Somebody dead?" Teddy asked in a groggy voice.

Hermione nodded, "Sir Harry followed Sir Ronald to the front of the crowd, pulling Lady Hermione with him. Everything was so quiet and still and when they reached the front she understood why. Laying broken in front of them was their beloved Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. 'Snape?' Lady Hermione asked quietly.

"Sir Harry only nodded as he looked over the body. Princess Ginerva, Sir Neville and Lady Luna stood across for the three friends. Together the six raised their wands and whispered the incantation 'Lumos Maxima.' A stream of light shot into the night sky, dimming the green glow of the Dark Mark. One by one each person lifted their wand arm and did the same. Within minutes hundreds of wands were shining hundreds of lights into the night sky. They all combined to illuminate their surroundings. The Dark Mark was gone but Albus Dumbledore's body still lay in front of them as a reminder of what had happened and what lay ahead for each and every one of them. That night, everything changed for the three friends."

"Thank you, Mione," Teddy yawned before closing his eyes. He was asleep in under a minute. She shifted him in her lap in order to sit more comfortably while everyone in the circle stared at her.

All too soon they were distracted by a strange, silvery creature that suddenly appeared before them. "Mione, I need your help. They're attacking at me da's, house full of muggles," a strong Irish brogue pleaded when the shimmering silver fox opened its mouth.

a/n: This will be the only chapter today. I have plans. But please review and I'll post more tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

Hermione looked around her wide eyed, then down at Teddy asleep in her arms.

"Go," Paul told her, knowing that it was something she needed to do. "I'll take care of Teddy."

"But I don't know when I'll come back," she replied.

"It's okay. Just go," he answered as he took the sleeping child from her arms. With one swift kiss on the cheek she disapparated. Everyone stared at him in silence for a moment. "I'm going to get him home," he finally broke the silence, standing and walking away from the circle.

"Paul!" Sam called as he too stood and began to follow his friend.

"Are you my alpha right now?" Paul asked as he buckled Teddy into his seat.

"No, man. I'm your friend," Same replied sounding slightly hurt.

"Then no offense, man, but I don't want to talk about it right now. I feel sick."

Sam nodded and let him go.

Hermione had to apparated three times to get to Seamus's house in Ireland. She landed on his doorstep and he immediately opened the door and pulled her inside. His family was cowering in a corner, his youngest cousin, a girl of only ten was in tears.

"What happened?" Hermione asked. "I thought we rounded the last of the Death Eaters up?"

"We did," Seamus answered. "These are their children! Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Nott, and Greengrass. I guess they're still pissed about losing their fortunes when Mummy and Daddy were carted off to prison."

"What's the plan?"

"The protection charms are breaking down with all the curses they're shooting at the house. We need to get my family out of here, but where?"

"Hogwarts," Hermione suggested.

"They're muggles!"

"Your mum can hide them in Hogsmeade, at the Hogs Head, Aberforth will hide them. Then she can go to the school and get help."

"I'm not leaving my son here alone," his mother argued from his other side.

"Mam," Seamus argued, "I'm not alone. I got 'Mione here helping."

"You're still outnumbered three to one."

"Mrs. Finnegan, I think it's the only way." Mrs. Finnegan looked back at her husband and the rest of his family. They'd been over for Sunday dinner when the attack had started eight hours ago. Seamus had been playing football at the park in town with some cousins and friends. It had taken him hours to get them away safely and return home when his mother had sent him the news. Once he'd gotten there she'd refused to leave him alone if only for a little while to go for help or take the rest of the family to safety. They'd fought to the point of near exhaustion before Seamus finally gave in and sent his patronus to Hermione asking for help. He was expecting her to turn her back on him the way he had done to hear not too long ago but ever the loyal, brave Gryffindor princess she came to her friend's aide.

"Fine," Mrs. Finnegan finally relented running to the corner and grabbing the two youngest children.

"We don't fight until they're all safe," Hermione assured Seamus.

It took another hour for Mrs. Finnegan to clear the house. "I'm going to the school for help," she assured them before leaving with a protesting Mr. Finnegan who'd gotten his shotgun out of the closet.

"Now?" Seamus asked, remembering the battle plan they'd drawn up in their heads. She nodded and they ran out the door side by side wands at the ready.

Paul couldn't sleep that night. He felt a terrible sense of foreboding and knew that Hermione was feeling the exact same thing at the moment. He settled for staying up and reading her journals where he discovered something that under any other circumstance would've had him elated but tonight he couldn't stop thinking about the danger she was in long enough to feel excited.

It was nearly an hour before Mrs. Finnegan returned with the help of Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, and Sprout. Hermione was in a four way duel by then with Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, and Draco Malfoy. Though she was holding her own it wasn't looking good for her. They definitely had the upper hand in this duel.

Hours later the fight was still going strong. There were injuries but no casualties. Hermione couldn't help but wonder if the professors were regretting how well they'd taught their former slytherin students. The fall sun and long ago risen and was beating down on them from above.

Paul could tell that Teddy was worried when he woke up the next morning and Hermione was still gone. They'd made plans to go to Charlie and Sue Swan's house today. Leah was home from school for Thanksgiving Break and had agreed to see him, Seth and no other pack members.

Trying to ease Teddy's nerves he'd decided to keep the plans that he'd made. Besides, he was horrible in the kitchen and Sue had promised them lunch. His body ached all over as he drove the few miles into Forks and unloaded the four year old from his truck.

"Paul!" Leah yelled as she ran through the door to embrace her old friend.

He winced at the contact but returned the hug. "You look good!" he commented before releasing her and taking Teddy's hand again.

"Haven't phase in two years," she replied with a smile. "Guess all I needed was to get away for a while."

"You've been missed!"

"So have you! Who's this little guy?" she asked, noticing Teddy for the first time as he hid behind Paul's leg.

"This is Teddy. He's the newest member of the pack. A real werewolf."

They went inside and enjoyed a nice lunch with Leah's family where Seth and Paul explained how Teddy had come to join the pack. Charlie, a friend of Billy's since childhood, had been sad to hear about the deaths of Sirius and Remus who he'd also gotten to know over the years. When lunch was over a very tired Teddy had laid down on Charlie's couch for a nap while the adults continued talking in the kitchen.

"What's up with you today man?" Seth asked Paul. "You're acting like you're hurt."

"And scared," Leah added.

"She's hurt and scared," Paul replied easily.

"What do you mean?" Leah asked. "I've never heard of a wolf being able to feel his imprints pain before."

"It's different for us," Paul answered. Seth only raised an eyebrow at him. Turning to Seth he continued, "Remember when you said maybe she has some sort of connection to me too?" Seth nodded. "She does! I just finished her fifth journal. That's the year she became an animagus. Most of the time an animagus is the same color as their human hair color."

"But Hermione's wolf is silver, like you," Seth commented.

"Exactly! In very rare cases, an animagus will be a different color and it means that their soul mate is the same color and can take on the same or a similar shape. Harry's parents were the same color. He was a stag and she was a doe. It's a different kind of connection though. I can feel her feelings if they're really intense and we can comfort each other just by being close, just holding hands, like when she was having that nightmare."

"So she does feel it too?"

Just then, Paul let out a tortured yell and fell to the floor.

"Mione!" Seamus yelled, seeing her fall to the ground as Malfoy stood over her. He'd crucioed her. Seamus had just ended his duel with Nott and had gone to help his friend when he heard it happen. "Sectum Sempra!" he yelled directing his wand at Malfoy's throat. The blond immediately fell to the ground, dead! "Shit, Mione! Wake up! Please, wake up!"

a/n: Reviews make me smile & I'll try to post again today. Also sorry about the cliffhanger on a day when I only posted once. It wasn't planned and I didn't even realize it until I got home last night & read some of the reviews.


	12. Chapter 12

a/n: The the person who asked why it took her three times to apparate to Seamus's house & why his mother didn't stay and fight, here are your answers: A wizard cannot apparate anywhere in the world. They can only apparate short distances. In a trip like that I'm assuming it would take at least 3 stops. Also, his mom comes back and fights with the professors. It says it somewhere in there, I believe, that she returned with reinforcements. Now on with the story.

"Dude, Paul," Seth was shaking his friend who was drifting in and out of consciousness. "Paul, what's wrong, man?"

"Should we take him to the hospital?" Charlie offered.

"No," Sue told him. "There's too much that they'd question because of his condition. We need to take him back to the reservation. Billy should know what to do. Leah," she said, turning to her daughter, "we'll be back-"

"I'm going with you," Leah interrupted. Seth looked at her with wide eyes. "It's fine Seth. We need to worry about Paul now. You tell the pack. I'll take Teddy home. Mom?"

"We'll bring Paul and meet you there," Sue assured her daughter as Charlie helped the young man to his feet.

"How long was she under the curse?" Poppy Pomfrey had just arrived on the scene, called by Professor McGonagall.

"Less than a minute," Seamus assured them. "I just ended my duel when I heard Malfoy curse her. I stopped him as quickly as I could."

"Has she experienced the Cruciatus before?"

"Who knows?" Professor Flitwick offered. "Only she knows what happened when she was off with the boys for that whole year. I've never heard of her being treated for it after a battle."

"Once that I know of," Seamus countered. "Fifth year. Umbridge."

"Oh dear," McGonagall sighed looking at the still form of Hermione Granger lying on the ground.

"That was too long ago to still have this effect," Poppy assured them. "And aside from her experiencing the curse in the past three years, I can think of nothing that would cause her to still be unconscious now."

"Well, what do we do then?" Seamus asked.

"We'll take her to her home in London and make her comfortable. I'll need help researching the situation. Professor Sprout can work on healing herbs."

Seamus picked Hermione up from her spot on the ground. "I'll meet you there." Concentrating hard on where he hoped to land he disappeared, followed soon after by Pomfrey, McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout. "I'll put her in her old room—second floor, third room on the right—and start looking in the library."

"Where's Teddy?" Paul asked when he finally regained consciousness later that night.

"My mom is watching him at Billy's place," Leah told him. "I've made soup. What happ-"

"She's hurt," Paul cut her off. "Hermione's hurt and I think it's really bad this time."

"Are you hurt though?" Seth asked entering the room.

"I feel like shit, man. Every muscle in my body aches and feels like it's on fire."

For two days Paul was confined to his bed. Teddy came to see him only at his own bed time to hear his nightly Sir Harry story but other than that the child was kept at Billy's house with Sue. The rest of the pack and the tribe elders worked feverishly around the clock to find a way of easing his pain and discomfort, all wondering where Hermione was and when she would come home so he could feel better.

"Professor McGonagall?" Seamus asked as he interrupted her Thursday morning first year Transfiguration class.

"Mr. Finnegan!" her eyes were wide with worry. Seamus had stayed at Grimmauld Place along with Madame Pomfrey in order to search the Black family library for any information he could find regarding their current crisis. The three professors had returned to their posts but given reading assignments for the majority of their lessons so that they could do their own research using the school library for reference. "Have you found anything?"

"I think so," he replied, amid whispers of 'Seamus Finnegan! Only two survivors!,' as he crossed the room to his former professor's desk. "Do you know if there was a possibility that Hermione was an unregistered animagus?"he asked in a whisper. "I've already checked the ministry registry but there's nothing."

"She completed her transformation during her fifth year along with Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley," McGonagall whispered back. "It was a very strange situation: all three of them were wolves. I suspect they were the same animal because of their close friendship but none of them seemed to possess any wolf qualities. Hermione was strangest of all however. She had dark silver fur instead of chestnut brown like her hair. Why do you ask?"

Seamus opened the book he was holding to a marked page. "I found this in the Black library. It was already marked."

McGonagall read then re-read the page carefully. "A soul mate?"

"I think she's already met him too!" Seamus replied. "They can feel each other's pain. What if he's feeling her pain and in return she's feeling his. That could be why she hasn't woken up yet. It's making the effects more intense. Is that even possible?"

"Class dismissed!" Professor McGonagall announced before scrolling three notes. Two she sent with her owl and one she spell-o-taped to her door once all of the first years were gone. "We'll soon find out," she answered before taking his hand and leading him into her office. "Number Twelve Grimmauld Place," she called into the floo and the two of them were gone.

"It's possible," Pomfrey told them. I've only ever experienced this once before—with the Potters. Every time Lily was sick, James would show up sick as well. It wasn't until their seventh year when Lily finally accepted their connection that she experienced it. It was never this bad though."

"Because they were always near each other," McGonagall offered. "We need to find her mate!"

"Where's Teddy?" Seamus asked. "Maybe she left him with her mate?"

"So Harry-"

"Sir Harry," Teddy corrected.

"Sorry," Paul laughed, "Sir Harry was zooming past the dragon on his broomstick while Sir Ronald and Lady Hermione cheered in the stands. Fire chased him and-" The story was interrupted again, this time by a loud cracking noise outside. "What the?"

Paul stumbled from the bed and padded across the floor with Teddy close behind him. Sue had gone home to Charlie's house for the night and Leah, the pack members and the elders were at Billy's house while Paul told Teddy his bedtime story. Paul figured he'd been the only one to hear it because no one was leaving Billy's house. Paul pulled the door open and stepped onto the porch, stumbling slightly on his wobbly legs.

"SHAY!" Teddy cheered, running from behind Paul and jumping into the arms of a strange man with sandy colored hair. "Shay, where 'Mione?"

"I'm here to take you to her," the man answered in an Irish accent.

"Like hell you are," Paul yelled at the man. "You're not taking him anywhere until you tell me what's going on."

This seemed to alert Billy's house as the door swung open and people began to emerge.

"No problem, mate," the man replied. "My name's Seamus Finnegan and I'm an old friend of 'Mione's from school. She," he paused looking at Teddy, "she was hurt on Monday and I came here looking for someone."

"You mean Teddy?" Sam asked alerting Seamus to the presence of many very tall, very muscular men who joined them in the yard and one young, exotically beautiful young woman with raven colored hair flowing down her back. None of them appeared to be sick except of course the first one to come out.

"No, actually. I wanted to bring him too, but I think he's the one I'm lookin' for," Seamus replied, motioning to Paul who looked on the verge of phasing at the news that him imprint was injured. "How long've you been sick, mate?"

Paul remained quiet. "Monday, around noon," the exotically pretty woman answered in his stead as she made her way to the front of the group and others tried to restrain her. She shook them off easily and crossed to Seamus who allowed her to take Teddy from his arms without protest. "Why?"

"It was around eight at night my time then," Seamus answered. "That's when Hermione was injured." He turned back to the sick man. "I need you to come with me," he told him. "I'll take you to 'Mione."

a/n: Review!


	13. Chapter 13

"Where are you taking him?" Leah asked as she followed Paul and Seamus into the house with Teddy in her arms.

"London," Seamus explain before turning to Paul, "Do you have any clothes here, mate? Don't know how long you'll be gone and I doubt anything at Grimmauld Place is going to fit you."

"You can't take him to London," Sam protested. "He's sick. We need to get him better."

"No," Paul answered Seamus's earlier question. "No clothes here. Don't worry about that now though. I need to see her."

Seamus had already stopped listening to him and was now replying to Sam who obviously wasn't used to having his word challenged. "He'll get better when we get there. They need to be together!"

"Leah?" Paul asked. "Can you pack some things for Teddy?"

"No need," Seamus replied again. "Teddy's got clothes at home."

"This is Teddy's home," Paul protested, sitting on the couch near the point of exhaustion.

"Fair enough," Seamus nodded, "but 'Mione owns a place in London and they have things there."

"I thought her parents sold everything when she erased their memories?"

"It's not her parent's place. It's Sirius's. He left it to Harry and when Harry died he left everything to Hermione. That's where they lived between my farm and coming here. Can we please go? Every minute we wait would be better spent with her."

"What's he talking about?" Jared asked.

"I'll explain it," Seth offered when Paul opened his mouth to answer. "You need to go, dude."

"Can Leah come?" Paul asked Seamus seeing the way that she was looking at the Irishman.

"Sure, mate, whatever you want. Please let's just go. She bad off!" Seamus said heading toward the fireplace where he used his wand to start a fire and expand the opening. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a handful of dust which he threw into the flames turning them green. "Everyone who's coming crowd in," he said as he took Paul by the arm and helped him to walk into the green flames. Leah followed after carrying Teddy. "Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London," Seamus called and they were gone.

"So you know how I told him nothing could surprise me anymore?" Jared asked, turning to Sam.

"Yeah."

"I changed my mind."

"Me too, man!"

They each landed in a different fireplace of Grimmauld Place and Seamus had to push two others out before he could exit on his own. He'd forgotten how hard it was to travel by floo with muggles. Paul tumbled out somewhere on the third floor, Leah and Teddy managed to exit somewhat more gracefully in the library and Seamus managed to jump out of the floo system in the basement kitchen. A second longer and he'd have been sent to that strange family near Trafalgar Square. He'd made that mistake before and had to listen to the father quote outdate Quibbler articles for an hour before he could manage to politely escape. Not an experience he was interested in repeating any time soon…or ever.

"Mr. Finnegan! Is that you?" he heard Professor Flitwick call from upstairs. "Minerva had to return to the school. Did you find him?"

Seamus ran up the stairs and nearly toppled Flitwick on the second floor landing. "He's up here," he panted as he continued to run. "You alright mate?" Seamus asked when he stumbled into a room on the third floor. From the burn marks on the wall and an old box of skiving snacks he recognized it as the room the Weasley twins must've shared in the summer they'd spent here. Paul simply groaned on the floor. "Sorry for the shove. Forgot how hard it was to floo non-magic folk," he continued, helping Paul to his feet and down the stairs.

"Is this the boy?" an elderly woman in a witches hat asked when they emerged back on the second floor.

"Yes, ma'am," Seamus replied.

"Paul Lahote," Paul introduced himself to the woman and the very short man next to her.

"It's nice to meet you dear. Poppy Pomfrey," she replied. "Mr. Finnegan if you would please deposit him in the bed with Miss Granger."

Seamus did as he was told and the beeping of Hermione's heart monitor immediately picked up on the presence of her mate, evening out and becoming stronger.

"I'm going to find his friend," Seamus told them, wondering how the pretty girl was taking this strange twist and if she'd wandered out of the library yet.

"Filthy muggle trash! You look like that mutt nephew of mine! Tell me he didn't breed." From the sounds of it she'd wandered into the foyer of the ancient house of Black.

"Shut up, Aunt Walburga!" Teddy ordered as Seamus ran down the stairs.

There was a loud thud and as he rounded the corner he saw the pretty girl that Paul had called Leah shaking her hand in pain.

"You alright?" he asked as he neared.

"Fine," she answered then looked down at her hand puzzled. It was still throbbing. Normally it would've started the healing process by now. "I don't think I'll be making a very good first impression on your friend though. I broke her picture."

"Broke it," Seamus asked, staring wide eyed at the frame. Sure enough it was broken and dangling slightly from the wall. "She'll love you!" he assured her cradling her hand in his so he could inspect it better. "Mione's been trying to get that thing down for almost six years. Madame Pomfrey can fix this right up."

"Who?"

"Poppy Pomfrey. She's a medi-witch," at her blank expression he decided to elaborate further. "It's kind of like a nurse. She's great at her job. I'm Seamus by the way."

"Shay, I go play," Teddy told him as he scampered up the stairs.

"Be good," Seamus called over his shoulder. "I'll come get you for dinner."

"K."

"Leah," the girl replied, shaking his hand with her good one.

"Mione must not have told you lot much about our world then?"

"I haven't even met her," Leah explained. "I've been away at school. Paul and I grew up together, though. We're good friends and he was visiting me at my mom's house when he got sick so I've been hanging around helping with Teddy and trying to figure out how to make him better."

Seamus nodded as he showed the girl the way up the stairs. "This should make him right by tomorrow," he explained. "It'll probably take longer for 'Mione since she's the one that was actually injured."

"How do you know Hermione?"

"School. We went to wizarding school together. We were in the same school house and I shared a dorm with her best mates. She was in there more than her own dorm. Like to say we got to be close back then as well but it wasn't until after the war when we realized we were the last two of our school mates left alive that we got to be good friends."

"You said she lived with you? Did you date?" she tried to keep the jealousy from her voice. Hermione and Paul were together. There was no reason to be jealous of the girl now, but she couldn't help the slight tinge.

"No," Seamus laughed. "It was never like that with her. She's only had two boyfriends before now, both total sods in the end. She was living here with Harry and Ron when they both died. She broke down when she got the news so me mam and I came for her and brought her and Teddy back home with us till she could get on her feet. They stayed a full year. Would've had them longer but Teddy started his transformations and it was just too dangerous. I'd come back on full moons to help out though."

"You really care about her," Leah observed.

"I love her," he corrected. "Both of them. Them and me parents are all I really have left. Madame Pomfrey," he added sticking his head into a room on the second floor. "Could you look at Leah's hand please? She shut old Walburga up for good."

a/n: Please review. I'll try to post a new chapter by tomorrow night but I think one will be my limit tomorrow. Thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

"You're a shape-shifter as well?" Madame Pomfrey asked once she was alone with Leah in a spare bedroom. The younger woman nodded. "How long has it been since you phased, dear?"

"A little over two years I think, the same time as when I left the pack. I don't get it. I could heal really quickly before."

"Yes, dear, well that was a side effect of being a shape-shifter," Pomfrey explained.

"But I am a shape-shifter," Leah protested, understanding but not quite believing what she was hearing.

"I'm so sorry, dear," Pomfrey told her, "but I don't think you are any longer." Leah's eyes filled with tears at the news. "It must be the last thing that you want to hear. I'm sorry. When was the last time you got incredibly angry?"

"A few nights ago," Leah answered, remembering the way that Sam held his hand protectively over Emily's stomach while they both looked at her with pity in their eyes. Somehow it didn't seem so bad now.

"But you didn't phase," the medi-witch pointed out.

"No," Emily shook her head. She'd waited until Paul had fallen asleep and everyone had left Billy's house then she went into the woods and cried. She'd almost wanted to phase to feel free just for a while. To be alone. Never re-joining Sam's pack after her new alpha, Jacob, had left she'd lost all telepathic link to anyone in her wolf form. "I'm not a wolf anymore," she smiled, letting one tear fall down her pretty face. "How did I break that picture then?"

"I assume that you still have some tendency that will fade in time, such as your strength."

"Will I…can I have kids?" she asked, hopeful.

Madame Pomfrey offered her a friendly smile. "Lie down dear. I'll run some tests."

Seamus didn't know what to do in the big house all alone. He'd tried to play with Teddy but the boy had fallen asleep. Hermione and Paul were locked away in her room and Madame Pomfrey was examining Leah in one of the spare bedrooms. Flitwick had returned to the school with a promise to send someone back in the evening. At a loss of anything better to do, wishing someone would've thought to attach a satellite dish to the ancient house and with no interest in ever seeing the inside of a library again, he began to clean the shattered remains of Walburga Black's picture frame from the hallway.

Thirty minutes later, when he realized he still had no company he floo called his mother and had her send some spackle. An hour after that, he started dinner.

The basement kitchen was where Leah found him when she finally finished with her examination. "Something smells good," she told him with a smile that didn't seem to match the cast she wore on her hand.

"It's just spaghetti," he replied. "Nothing too spectacular."

"You can cook?"

"Only a little. Most people don't trust me around fire, seeing as I spent my first few years of school blowing things up but in a pinch I can fix something decent. She didn't heal you?"

Leah shook her head, "She said she's not allowed to use magic on me because I'm something she called a muggle. It's alright though. It's just a small fracture."

"So you're not a shape-shifter like Paul then?"

"Not anymore," she shook her head and, if possible, he smile got even bigger.

"You can just stop?"

She nodded, "I left the pack that Paul's in to join our real alpha. When he left I moved away for school and haven't phased in over two years. Madam Pomfrey said it's possible that I'll never phase again."

"And that makes you happy?"

"Incredibly," she replied.

He shrugged, "well good for you then. I repaired the holes you left in the wall, by the way. I'll paint them in the morning. Give Mione a nice, new, harpy-free hallway when she wakes up."

"You think she will?" Leah asked, remembering suddenly why they were there and the ramifications for her friend if Hermione wasn't alright.

"Oh yeah," Seamus assured her. "It's weird magic that's for sure, very rare but basically them being able to feel each other's pain meant that he felt hers and it was projected back to her through him as well. I've seen her take that curse once before. She was a little wobbly for a while but a few meals of pure chocolate and some bed rest did the trick."

"Chocolate?" Leah asked laughing.

"It really is a miracle cure," he assured her with a wink. "I'm going to get Teddy for dinner. Are you hungry?"

"Always," she replied. "I'll start dishing out the plates."

It took Paul a while to remember what had happened when he finally came to again. He was in a strange room that somehow felt very familiar and he felt better than he had in days. But the best part of the entire situation was the woman lying next to him. Hermione was there in his arms again and though she wasn't awake he somehow got the feeling that she was safe.

"Teddy, you can't go in there right now. Mione and Paul are sleeping," Paul heard a strong Irish accent whispering outside the door and it all came back to him. A man came to the house saying he was a friend of Hermione's and she needed him. He promised to bring them to her and he'd made good on it.

"I'm awake," Paul called, half hoping it wasn't loud enough to wake his sleeping mate, half hoping it was.

The door slowly creaked open and the small form of Teddy Lupin walked in followed by a taller man. "Paul, you feel better?" Teddy asked as Paul still lay in the bed.

"Lots better little cub," Paul replied, pulling Teddy onto the bed with them.

"Mione sick too?"

"I think she'll feel better soon too," Paul replied as Teddy leaned over his sister and placed a small kiss on her forehead. "Thanks for bringing us here," he told Seamus who was watching the scene unfold in front of him.

"Anything for Mione," Seamus replied. "I made dinner. Do you feel up to eating?" Paul looked hesitantly at Hermione. "I'll bring a plate up to you. You probably shouldn't leave her for a while. I'll call the school and tell Madam Pomfrey you're awake too so she can come check you out."

"Thanks."

Teddy ran to catch up with Seamus as the man left the room. Ten minutes later they both returned. Seamus was carrying two plates of spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad while Teddy carried a piece of cloth. As Seamus placed the food on a small table he'd placed near the bed, Teddy continued toward Hermione. He pulled himself onto the bed and placed the damp cloth on her forehead.

"Now you jus' lay there 'Mione," Teddy told her, "and I take care of you."

a/n: I had to put that last part in. It was just too cute to pass up. Please review & I'll try to post again by the morning. Thanks & happy reading!


	15. Chapter 15

It sounded like they were talking to her from far away but she could still make out what they were saying…barely.

"Now you jus' lay there 'Mione and I take care of you." Teddy?

"How you feelin' mate?" Seamus. That at least made sense. Seamus was supposed to be there. She'd been with him when she was hit with the curse.

"Better, but still not great." It was Paul this time. When did he get here? "I'll be better once she wakes up. How long do you think it'll take?"

"There's no telling," she could hear Madam Pomfrey's reply. It made sense for her to be there too, of course. Madam Pomfrey was an original member of the Order of the Phoenix and was called every time any member was injured...at all. She'd been called once to look at Hermione's stubbed toe when she was living at Grimmauld Place when she was fifteen. "I wasn't expecting you to wake up until at least tomorrow morning. She'll hopefully be awake soon."

There was silence again.

"Do you think she can hear us?" Paul asked Madam Pomfrey as she poked and prodded at him with her wand. "My uncle was in a coma once and my aunt talked to him every day. She thought that he could hear her."

"There's no telling I'm afraid," Pomfrey replied. "You seem to be in good health. I'll just leave you to your meal then."

"Thank you."

It seemed like a lifetime before the voices returned.

"NO!" Teddy was crying. "Wanna stay with 'Mione!"

"But you need your sleep," Seamus argued back. "You can come back-"

"Sleep with Mione!" Teddy persisted.

"He can stay," Paul told him. "She'll probably want to see him if she wakes up."

"I'll just expand the bed for you then," Seamus relented.

Silence.

"Water," Hermione begged but she couldn't tell if it real or if she was dreaming. "Need water."

Paul ran to the door. "She's talking!" he yelled into the hall before making his way to the bathroom. By the time he returned less than a minute later Seamus, Madam Pomfrey, the small man that he met the day before, and tall severe-looking woman with a taut bun had gathered in the room.

"Water," Hermione gasped again, her eyes still closed. Paul attempted to push past the hoard of wizards to his mate's bed.

"No!" Pomfrey ordered. "I need to run some more tests." She continued to poke and prod at Hermione, running her tests.

Hermione's eyes shot open. "Water!" she pleaded. "Please!"

Paul offered the water in his hand and she reached with a shaking arm but Madam Pomfrey knocked the water away from her. Hermione looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Mr. Finnegan, I believe Sirius kept his firewhiskey on the top shelf of his closet," the tall woman said. "At least that's where he and James used to hide it at Hogwarts. Please retrieve it for us."

"Whiskey?" Paul asked, looking at the puddle of water on the floor.

"It will calm her nerves," Madam Pomfrey explained.

Seamus returned seconds later with a dusty bottle of amber liquid. Taking the cup from Paul's hand he poured a generous amount and held it to Hermione's lips. She drank and fell back on the bed with a sigh.

"Better dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Much," she answered through a yawn. "Where's Teddy?"

The small boy had retreated to cowering in the corner when all the adults had entered the room but was now taking small tentative steps toward his sister. "Here, 'Mione," he answered just before she scooped him into the bed with her.

"You did a very good job of taking care of me," she whispered in his ear causing him to smile and turn to her.

Holding her face with both of his small hands he kissed her forehead and replied, "No more scaring me."

"Promise," she answered before wrapping both of her arms around him and laying her head back down on the pillow.

"You tired?"

"Very."

"Me too. Can Paul tell us a story so we go bed?" Everyone had left the room again after Madam Pomfrey had explained the difference between sleep and unconsciousness and told Paul that a short nap should fix her right up.

Teddy didn't make it half way through Paul's faulty troll story before he closed his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked him in a whisper over Teddy's sleeping form.

"Seamus came to the res and told me that you needed me. I came right away," Paul explained.

"I needed you?"

"It's our connection," he told her. "I feel it too. I was sick without you there and when you got hurt I couldn't even leave my bed."

"Our connection," she mumbled closing her eyes. She must've written about it in her journal from fifth year, the one he was reading right now. "I'm sorry. You must be so angry with me that I didn't tell you."

He laughed, "I'm not angry at all. I've actually been keeping something from you as well." She raised an eyebrow at him. "It's called imprinting. The pack imprints on their perfect mate. It happens the moment they lay eyes on them. I imprinted on you when I picked you up from the airport but I didn't know how to tell you without scaring you off. I love you, Hermione. And you're probably going to think it's too soon but I want to marry you. I don't have a ring. I wasn't planning on doing it like this at all. Shit."

"Yes," she answered.

"What?"

"I'll marry you."

"Really?"

"Paul, we're meant to be together. I don't need to wait and I don't need a ring. I just need you."

"Go to sleep," he told her. "You need that right now too."

a/n: I'm sorry it's taken so long to update. It's been a hectic few days for me. I also had inspiration strike me on my other fic and have been writing more on that. Check it out if you haven't already. I'll probably only be updating every other day for a while. As always: PLEASE REVIEW!


	16. Chapter 16

Paul sat at the large dining room table with his head cradled in both hands. Hermione had fallen asleep about an hour earlier and he decided to let her rest while he privately berated himself for his less than romantic proposal. He didn't deserve her. That much he knew. She was sophisticated and brave and beautiful and smart and just amazing in every way. And he was well he was less than that. He'd known for only a few days now that he really was the luckiest bastard in the entire galaxy because she felt the same way about him and he knew that they were meant for each other and that they'd be happy together for the rest of their natural lives. And he knew that nothing he could do would ever change that but he could've at least given her a real proposal, made a big deal out of it, made it romantic. She deserved that at least since the fates had seen fit to have her settle for him.

Leah walked into the room giggling with Seamus on her heels and Paul's head shot up. With his cockiest smile he shot a wink at his old friend. She attempted to glare in return but the blush that was overtaking her face forced her to smile instead.

"What's got you so bothered?" Seamus asked as he set a kettle on the stove. "Is something wrong with 'Mione?" There was urgency in his voice now.

"Other than she's dating a complete moron, no," Paul groaned as he replaced his head in his hands.

"What'd you do?" Leah asked as she sat across from him at the table.

"I…uh…sort of proposed."

"And you don't want to marry her?" Seamus asked, with an irritated voice.

"Oh, I want to marry her," Paul corrected. "Hell, I'd have married her the second I laid eyes on her. But it was the way I did it. I just sort of blurted it out. And she accepted and I'm thrilled, of course, but that's the kind of thing you only get one chance at and I didn't have a ring and it wasn't romantic. And she deserves that. You know? A fairy tale proposal. I can't even afford a ring."

"Who says you only get one chance at it?" Seamus asked as he rummaged through the pantry. Paul remained silent. "You must not know 'Mione that well if you think she doesn't give second chances or third or fourth or fifth—even on the big stuff. If you don't like how you did it, do it again. But try to get it right the second time, will you. I don't like to think that my only friend left in the world is stuck with an oaf for the rest of her life."

"Thanks," Paul replied sarcastically as he stood.

"Where are you going?" Leah asked.

"To plan," he replied with a sly smile as he left the room. Seamus was just setting two cups of tea on the table between them.

Paul wandered through the house aimlessly for over three hours. It was the middle of the night now and everything was quiet, even Leah's giggles and Seamus deep throated laugh from the basement kitchen. Everyone was asleep. Then he heard something.

It sounded like when he was younger and Sam would try to get his attention in class. He had to be hearing things. It was an old house after all. He'd lived in enough of those to know that they make very strange settling noises at night. He continued his walk around the ancient library.

"Over here, mate," someone called in the darkness.

Paul jumped as he turned around. It was real that time.

"There's a light switch on the wall behind you."

Paul flipped the switch to reveal that he was, as he thought, the only person in the room. But then he noticed a painting waving both arms over its head. "OVER HERE!" the man in the painting with messy black hair called again. Paul approached the picture. "I'm Harry," he finally introduced.

"Uh…Paul," he replied tentatively.

"I know. I've sort of been watching you for a while now."

"Watching me?"

"Well if you're going to be dating my best mate I want to see what type of man you are," Harry defended.

Paul nodded. "She has pictures of you at her house on the res," he replied. "Do you…do you watch us there too?"

Harry nodded.

"Why haven't you talked to me before then?"

"I couldn't," he replied. "Mione can't…I put her through too much already. I don't want her to…to know I can still communicate with her." His voice cracked.

"I'm sure she'd forgive you anything. She misses you."

Harry shook his head. "You don't know the things I put her…them…through."

"Like what?" Paul couldn't help but ask. He knew that she still had nightmares when he was on patrols and he figured they had to do with Harry somehow.

The painting let out a deep sigh. "I was possessed," he finally answered. "I managed to mostly kill the Dark Lord in the final battle but I couldn't do it completely because a part of him was in me. I made them promise me that when we finished rounding up everyone that they'd finish me. We all knew that I was getting too close to the edge. I was the only piece of his soul left and I was getting more angry and volatile by the hour toward the end."

Paul looked horrified. "You made her kill you?"

Harry shook his head again. "No, but only because of Teddy. We all knew that the impact of the curse would kill anyone near me at the time. We all planned on going together. The same way that we started all this but then everyone else was gone and I couldn't let Teddy be an orphan like I was so I didn't let her come with us. It was the only way to end it but I took her two best friends from her in one instant. I know she doesn't hate me but she should."

Paul was silent for a long time, just staring at Harry with his mouth slightly open.

"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," Harry finally continued after he composed himself.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Paul asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

"I have a ring," Harry answered simply. "There's a small wooden box in the top drawer of the nightstand in my old bedroom. It has a 'P' engraved on the top of it. There's a ring in there. I was my mum's and before that my grandmother and great grandmother. It was a Potter family heirloom. Goblin made in the 1100s. Very good quality. The finest in the world, actually. Muggle and magical. It's not doing anyone any good where it's at and if anyone should be wearing it, it's 'Mione."

"You're sure?" Paul asked, slightly embarrassed for the charity.

"She's the closest thing to family I ever really had. I want it to stay with family. It's a beautiful ring. Also there's this little Italian restaurant near Picadilly that she used to go to with her dad and she loves the fountains in Trafalgar Square, especially at night."

"Paul?" he could hear her call him as she made her way down the stairs. "Paul are you down here?"

He turned to thank Harry but he was still again. Paul mouthed his thank you so that she wouldn't hear and question him.

"There you are," she sighed as she entered the library and came to wrap her small arms around his thick waist. Come to bed? I can't sleep."

Paul leaned down to kiss the top of her head before letting her pull him from the room.

a/n: So there's this kid that I take care of who reminds me of the werewolves in Twilight. Or at least how they might have looked in elementary school. And he inspired me to write more on this fic. There won't be much (probably just a few more chapters) but I had to do it. The updates may not come often but there will be a few more. For those of you that I left hanging before I am so sorry. Let me attempt to make it up to you. And as always: REVIEW!


	17. Chapter 17

Hermione was walking on air. How had Paul known? Her favorite restaurant for supper-the one she used to eat at with her parents every year before she left and after she returned from Hogwarts-and now they were strolling hand in hand through Trafalgar Square. The street lights illuminated the water in the fountains. It looked like glitter rainging down into pools of stars. It was magical. The perfect evening. The air was crisp and there were surprisingly few people around at that time of night.

He shocked her when he got down on one knee in the shadow of the lion statues and took her left hand in his. He opened a ornately carved wooden box to reveal a ring. She'd seen that ring before. Harry had shown in to her.

***Flashback***

It was a month after the final battle and she walked in on him sitting in front of the fire with a picture of himself and Ginny and one hand and the ring in the other. She was about to apologize and excuse herself when he spoke.

"Sirius told me that it was a family heirloom. My mum wore it when she married my dad. It was my grandmum's before that, all the way back to the 1100s this ring has been in the Potter family. I was going to give in to Ginny after the war was over."

"I'm so-"

He cut her off as if she hadn't spoken at all. "I want you to wear it," he told her. "You're the closest thing to family that I have now. It should stay in the family." She opened her mouh to protest as she finally made her way around the armchair and look him in the eyes. He didn't give her a chance. "There's no one else for me, 'Mione. Ginny was it. The Potter name is going to end with me, but you're my best friend and my sister and when you get married, I want you to be wearing this ring. Promise!"

It wasn't a question or a request. It was more of a demand to which she only had one response. "I'd be honored."

He handed her the ring but she pushed it back at him.

"Keep it until then?" she requested. "You can give it to him when it's time."

"Whoever he is, he's one lucky bastard."

***End Flashback***

That had been before the three of them had made that other promise. After the pact was made she didn't think anyone would ever wear that ring again. Hell, with no one else knowing how to get into the house she didn't think anyone would ever find it again. She knew her former professors wouldn't bother snooping around for it and Dung had been killed early on in the war.

She opened her mouth to ask where he'd found it. How?

He opened his mouth to ask her again to be his wife. Niether on them got a word out.

"Isn't it customary to ask the father for his daughter's hand?" a man asked. Hermione's eyes widened but she didn't turn. Paul had never seen the man before. He implied that he was Hermione's father but he had seen pictures of Lupin and this was most definitely not that man. No, this man was shorter, plumper, less scarred. That left one possibility...

"Daddy?" Hermione questioned, spinning. It must've been because in a matter of seconds she ran straight at the man and threw her arms around his neck.

"I missed you peanut," the man whispered in her mass of curls.

"But how did you-"

"It took me a while. After that day when you stopped by asking to use the phone and we invited you in for supper I started having dreams and a few months later it just hit me. I remembered everything. You're mother didn't and I chose to return. To find you. But you were gone."

Hermione cried tears of joy as she reached for the man's hand and pulled him toward Paul. "Daddy, I want you to meet someone very special."

a/n: One more chapter to go. Review. Hopefully it'll be posted by the weekend.


	18. Chapter 18

"Mione?" Teddy asked through a yawn as they all sat around a bonfire with the pack, their imprints and the tribe elders, "story?"

The two simple words caught the attention of the younger members of the pack. They'd come to love Teddy's bedtime stories just as much, if not more, than the young lycan did. It was beyond the realm of belief for them that any of the things the young witch had experienced was even possible. That was saying a lot.

Hermione let out a deep sigh. With all eyes on her she knew there was no getting out of it. Not to mention that Teddy still refused to sleep without a story and he would simply whine the entire time until they finally got tired of it and took the boy home.

Hermione's father was also looking on expectantly, leaving his own home in Forks for the evening to spend it with the man who was to marry his daughter and those that meant the most to him. That was the hardest part for her really. He'd never heard the true horrors of what she'd experienced during her time in the wizarding world, especially her time on the run.

"Where was I?" she finally asked, cradling the boy in her arms.

"The Gold Trio trapped at Gingot," Teddy replied through another yawn.

Hermione nodded. "Sir Harry and Sir Ronald looked to Lady Hermione for help as they hid behind pillars to block the curses being shot at them from all directions and the fire blasting from the chained dragon guarding the vault. 'What should we do?' Sir Ronald asked.

"'How am I to know?' Lady Hermione replied.

"'You always have a plan,' Sir Ronald continued. 'The time we most need you to have a plan and you don't have a plan?'

"Sir Harry came to his friends aid, 'You can't always expect her to have a plan Sir Ronald. How was she to know this would happen?'

"'Well I do have an idea,' Lady Hermione told her friends, 'only it's not a very good one.'

"'We'll do it,' Sir Harry told her.

"'No really Sir Harry, it's not a good idea at all,' Lady Hermione protested.

"'If it's our only hope we'll take it,' Sir Harry argued. 'And neither of us is coming up with anything.'

"'Follow me then,' Lady Hermione replied crouching low and making her way toward the opposite wall as her friends did the same. 'Protego' she shouted as she ran full speed toward the edge of the balcony with the other two not far behind. When she reached the railing she leapt into the air and used one foot to push off the rail hoped it was enough as she sailed through the air and barely landed on the blind dragon. Sirs Harry and Ronald, being much taller than Lady Hermione were able to land more stably on the dragon's back. Sir Harry easily reached an arm out and stopped Lady Hermione as she fell. Pulling her behind him, each shot a curse at the chains holding the dragon in place and moments later it shot through the air, caving in walls and melting rail lines as it went.

"The dragon continued its trail of destruction as it made its way out of the bank and over the tall buildings of London. It didn't calm for what felt like hours to Lady Hermione. They were flying over the country side now and the dragon didn't seem intent on stopping anytime soon. 'What'll we do?' Sir Ronald asked.

"'We've no way of making it stop,' Lady Hermione told her friends. 'That was the not so good part of the plan.'

"'Well, I guess it's my turn to be the leader,' Sir Harry announced. 'Follow me!'

"They barely heard him as he let go of the dragon and plummeted into a Lake below. Two splashes followed his own as Sir Ronald and Lady Hermione jumped."

Hermione looked down to see Teddy fast asleep in her arms.

Everyone stared at her, wide-eyed, including her father.

Seamus was the first to break the silence. "Bloody hell, 'Mione! I didn't know you three rode on a dragon."

Hermione simply laughed as she looked at her (now) oldest friend. He seemed content in a way she hadn't seen since Dean died. Leah was sitting in front of him, leaning into his embrace with a look of shear joy on her face. They were here for the wedding in three days. This was the first time they all met: her father, Paul's friends, Seamus and his family, Leah's family, the remaining Hogwarts professor. It was a strange assortment but for the first time since Harry and Ron left her alone in Grimmauld Place to complete their final mission, Hermione felt truly, completely happy. At ease. At home.

a/n: That is all. Hope you enjoyed. Review


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